India's railways minister claimed on Monday that the drivers of a train that missed a signal and crashed into another train, killing 14, were distracted by watching cricket on their phones according to AFP.
The fatal collision in Andhra Pradesh state in October took place as hosts India played England during the one-day World Cup.
Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said, "The recent case in Andhra Pradesh happened because both the loco-pilot and co-pilot were distracted by the cricket match," reported by the Press Trust Of India news agency.
"Now we are installing systems which can detect any such distraction and make sure that the pilots (train drivers) and the assistant pilots are fully focused on running the train."
According to Hindustan Times last month a station master and other three members were sacked by the railway authorities when a freight train ran freely without driver at a speed of 70 km.
The men were removed from their posts for negligence after some 50 carriages barreled on solo for close to two hours.
With one of the biggest rail networks in the world, India has had a number of disasters throughout the years. The deadliest occurred in 1981 when a train in the state of Bihar derailed while crossing a bridge, killing an estimated 800 people.
Nearly 300 persons were murdered in a three-train crash in the state of Odisha in June 2023.
India has been spending enormous amount of money to update the network with modern stations and computerized signaling systems in recent years.
