India’s junior railway minister Manoj Sinha has said that a fracture on the track could have caused the derailment of a passenger train in northern Uttar Pradesh.

“Initial evidence would indicate that there was a fracture in the rail track. The Commission of Railway Safety will conduct a thorough investigation,” Sinha said.

“According to initial reports, the train driver felt a jerk and before he could do anything, the train derailed. The engineering department will establish the cause following the investigation.”

Rescue forces work at a train accident site near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India, Nov. 20, 2016. In one of the worst railway tragedies in India in recent years, at least 91 people were killed and more than 150 others injured after an express train derailed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh early Sunday morning. (Xinhua)

 Rescue forces work at a train accident site near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India, Nov. 20, 2016. In one of the worst railway tragedies in India in recent years, at least 91 people were killed and more than 150 others injured after an express train derailed in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh early Sunday morning. (Xinhua)