A train crash in eastern India that killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds was caused by a malfunction in an electronic signaling system that caused the train to change tracks, India's railway minister said, according to the Associated Press. AP).

The ongoing investigation should reveal whether there is a specific culprit and what is the cause of the defect, the minister said Ashwini Vaishnav in a television interview.

Authorities are working to clear the wreckage of two passenger trains that derailed Friday night in the Balasore district of the eastern Indian state of Odisha. It is one of the country's worst train accidents in decades.

The PTI agency had earlier reported that a preliminary investigation had revealed that the Coromandel Express train was signaled to enter the main track and later the signal was switched off.

VIDEO: Tragedy in India, hundreds killed and injured in a train accident