A hurried announcement by the railways that the assistant loco pilot (ALP) of the goods train that had rammed into the rear of the Sealdah-bound Kanchenjunga Express on Monday morning had died in the accident has added to the embarrassment of the railways as it emerged later that he had survived the crash.

In her initial reaction after the accident, in which 10 lives were lost, Jaya Verma Sinha, the chairperson and CEO of the railway board, had said that Manu Kumar, ALP of the goods train, had died along with loco pilot (LP) Anil Kumar and Ashish Dey, the guard of Kanchenjunga Express.

“Five persons have died in the accident. The driver and the assistant driver of the goods train and the guard of Kanchenjunga Express are among the dead,” Sinha had told a news conference soon after the accident.

As it emerged later in the day that Manu had survived the crash, several questions cropped up on how the top brass of the railways could make such an announcement.

“Manu Kumar is alive and is under treatment at a private nursing home in Siliguri. It is unfortunate that wrong information was shared by the Railway Board in a hurry,” said a senior loco pilot based in New Jalpaiguri. “From the very beginning, an attempt was made to hold the LP, who unfortunately died in the accident, and the ALP, who is still in trauma, responsible for the tragedy... This approach of the Board is condemnable.”

Sources at the private nursing home, which is in Khalpara of Siliguri, said Manu was under the treatment of a general surgeon and a neurosurgeon at the intensive critical care unit.

A video showed Kumar who was in deep shock inquiring about the LP.

Several railway officials said Manu’s statement would be very important to crack the cause of the accident. “We believe that the accident took place because of flaws in the system while the authorities are only talking about human error.... We are eagerly waiting for the statement from Manu,” said an official.

Later in the day, Gautam Deb, the mayor of Siliguri, called on Manu at the nursing home. “He is still in shock and is not in a state to speak with outsiders. It is shocking to know that the CEO of the railway board had declared him dead. This shows the unprofessional approach of the railways,” said Deb.

The mayor also accused the railway authorities of trying to “hush up” the incident.

“His statement is important. But before the inquiry is conducted, a section of people is trying to prove that he and the deceased loco pilot were responsible for the collision. This is nothing but an attempt to hush up the deficiencies of the railways,” said Deb.

Manu, who is yet to recover, is the sole survivor among the accused in the case registered by the Government Railway Police (GRP) at the GRP station in NJP. Charges under IPC, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and the Railway Act have been brought against them.

After the accident, Sinha, the CEO of the railway board, had said that the LP of the goods train had “disregarded the signal and rammed into the Kanchenjunga Express.”

On Wednesday, Surendra Kumar, the Katihar divisional railway manager, said officials would discuss with doctors to know when Manu would be able to interact with them.

“He is under treatment. We will speak to doctors to know when he will be able to talk. We hope he recovers soon,” said Kumar.