Railway workers and officials inspect the burnt coach of a passenger train at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. (AP Photo)
Thirty-two people were on Monday charred to death and 25 others injured when a fire broke out in a coach of New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh with railway minister Mukul Roy indicating that there could have been a blast. Additional DG Railways VSK Kaumudi
said that 32 bodies have been recovered so far from the charred S-11 bogie of the train. South Central Railway officials in Hyderabad said 25 people have been injured in the mishap and have been admitted to different hospitals.
The Nellore station manager noticed the fire in one of the bogies of the train at 4:15 AM and alerted officials. Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot immediately to put out the fire and they managed to restrict the blaze to the S-11 bogie, they said.
In Kolkata, the Railway Minister said, "Some of the injured passengers admitted to hospitals and a gateman at one of the level crossings near Nellore station heard a loud sound when the fire occurred in the coach".
Roy said that the Divisional Railway Manager had also said that there was a report of a blast even as the minister maintained that nothing can be "excluded" as to what caused the fire.
Asked if he suspected any act of sabotage, Roy said, "I will not say anything at this stage." He said that there was a talk about short circuit as also some inflammable substance being carried by a passenger.
"Nothing can be excluded and nothing can be said without an investigation. It will be investigated if inflammable substances were in the compartment or it was caused by a short circuit," the minister said.
Ishan Shah, who was travelling in the ill-fated coach and had woken up due to the disturbances, said that he had not heard any blast. Condoling the loss of lives in the fire accident, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the Railway Ministry to render all assistance to the affected.
15 passengers are believed to have jumped down from the burning compartment. A total of 72 passengers were travelling in the reserved compartment.
A witness told reporters that many were trapped inside when the flames engulfed the compartment. "I was lucky to come out but many passengers could not escape as two doors were jammed and the smoke spread fast," said Sudhir. Fire fighting personnel extinguished the fire and rescue workers were using gas cutters and other equipment to retrieve the bodies.
Ambulances were pressed into service to shift the injured to hospital. Top officials including district collector and superintendent of police rushed to the scene and supervised rescue and relief work. The district collector said burning bogie was detached to prevent the fire from spreading to other compartments.
He quoted some witnesses as saying that the fire was caused by short circuit near the toilet.
As the train was not moving at full speed, some passengers either entered the adjoining compartment or jumped down. However, those sleeping on the upper berths could not escape as the smoke spread fast and even the doors were not opening.
Railway minister Mukul Roy has ordered an inquiry into the Tamil Nadu Express fire mishap and announced an exgratia payment of Rs. five lakh each for the next of the kin of those killed in the incident.
He also announced a payment of Rs. one lakh each for those who were grievously injured and Rs. 25,000 for those who suffered simple injuries.
The inquiry by D K Singh, Commissioner of Railway Safety of South-Central Circle, will look into the cause of the mishap near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.
Railway Ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena said relief has been despatched through the accident relief medical train from Bitragunda station.
Fire brigade from Nellore reached the site and extinguished the fire, he said, adding Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal along with senior officials have rushed to the accident site.
A special train has been arranged for carrying relatives of affected passengers from Chennai to Nellore. Saxena said Railways has instructed General Managers of all zones to exercise extra vigil and launch a special safety drive regarding precautions to be taken to avoid recurrence of such accidents.
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