"Forty of the bodies of the victims have been identified and handed over to the relatives. The remaining 23 bodies have been sent to the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital as it has better facilities for preservation," Birbhum district police superintendent Humayun Kabir told IANS over phone.

The state government ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the state police to conduct a probe into the tragedy, which has left more than 100 people still lying injured in different hospitals. As many as 34 of the seriously injured were shifted to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital and six others to hospitals in Kolkata, about 190km from here.

Railwaymen worked overtime to repair the damaged footbridge where one of the coaches of the Vananchal Express had been thrown up after being slammed from the rear by the speeding Uttar Banga Express early this week.

Train services returned to normal on the down line as workers cleaned up the splintered scraps of the two trains lying on the track.

Severed limbs and body parts of the victims were found from the accident spot, as a large number of onlookers crowded the area. Bags and other belongings of the passengers were also seen lying besides the railway line.

In Kolkata, state Director General of Police Bhupinder Singh said the CID has been asked to probe the accident that occurred when the engine of the Uttar Banga Express ploughed through the three compartments of the stationary Vananchal Express at the Sainthia station in the dead of the night.

The railways have already ordered an inquiry on how two trains could come on to the same down line at the station in the Bolpur-Rampurhat section of Eastern Railway's Howrah division.