Soviet authorities suppressed the news of the disaster and provided only the basic information minimizing the number of victims. The first laconic information about the accident was published in Tiesa only two days later. On 9 April, another brief report claimed that a special commission had concluded the investigation and determined the responsible parties who would be prosecuted. The report quantified the casualties – 17 dead (15 at the site and two later in hospital) and 39 injured. Soviet authorities charged dispatcher Stasys Urbonavičius and foreman Motiejus Šiško and sentenced them to 13 and 3 years in prison, respectively, in August 1975. The court also ordered the men to reimburse property damages which were valued at 253,406 Soviet roubles. However, due to a mechanical malfunction, the signaling system did not alert the men that the cargo train was not fully moved off the live track. Therefore, railway workers sent a petition to the Soviet prosecutor's office asking for clemency. Urbonavičius was released from prison after serving seven years, returned to railroad work, and had 20% of his salary taken out for property damage reimbursement.