Amarinder Singh said 4 weeks have been given to submit a report to find out who was at fault
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Amritsar train accident after visiting injured and kin of those killed in the tragedy on Dussehra.
The chief minister postponed his visit to Israel and arrived in Amritsar this morning to meet those injured and take stock of the situation.
"We are announcing a magisterial probe into the incident," Mr Singh said while addressing media in Amritsar.
He said four weeks have been given to submit the report to find out who was at fault. The divisional commissioner of Jalandhar has been entrusted with the job of holding the inquiry, he said.
At least 61 people were killed on Friday evening after a crowd standing on railway tracks, watching a Ravan effigy burn on Dussehra, was run over by a train near Joda Phatak in Amritsar.
At least 300 people were watching the 'Ravana dahan' at a ground adjacent to railway tracks.
He said compensation of Rs five lakh each for the families of the deceased had already been announced by the state government. Besides, the government would bear the cost of medical treatments of the injured admitted to different hospitals, he told reporters.
61 people were killed and 57 others injured in the accident, he said, adding except nine, most of the bodies have been identified.
After landing at the Amritsar airport, Mr Singh reached the accident site. He met senior officials and members of the crisis management group and took stock of the relief work.
He was accompanied by Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, Education Minister OP Soni, Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, among others.