At least nine people died and 20 were injured after fire broke out inside a stationary train compartment in Madurai railway station in the wee hours of Saturday. The nine dead, five men and four women, were pilgims bound for Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, reports PTI.
The Southern Railway said that the passengers had carried “illegally smuggled gas cylinder” which caused the blast. They victims embarked on the pilgrimage from Lucknow last week in a private party coach, and most of them hailed from the Uttar Pradesh capital and its nearby areas.
Madurai district collector M S Sangeetha, who was present at the spot, said that the injured were rushed to the hospital.
Police, fire and rescue services personnel besides railway staff, involved in dousing the fire, extricated the charred bodies from the compartment.
A release by Southern Railway said that the fire broke out at 5.15 am on Saturday and the fire service personnel who arrived at the spot half an hour later put down the blaze by 7.15 am.
“This is a private party coach that was attached at Nagercoil Junction yesterday (Aug 25) by train no. 16730 (Punalur-Madurai Exp). Party coach was detached and kept at Madurai Stabling line. The passengers in the private party coach have illegally smuggled gas cylinder and this has caused the fire. Many passengers had got out of the coach on noticing fire. Some passengers had got down at platform itself,” the release said.
“The party coach had started the journey from Lucknow on August 17. They are scheduled to return to Chennai tomorrow… and return to Lucknow from there,” it added.
Any individual can book party coach using IRCTC portal. They are not allowed to carry any inflammable material like gas cylinder. The coach is to used only for transportation purpose, the release said.
Among the scattered items that lay on the accident spot included a cylinder and a bag of potatoes, indicating there were attempts to cook food.
Various angles including a possible gas leak having triggered the blaze are being probed.
While the Southern Railway initially put the toll at 10, it later revised it to nine. About 20 people were undergoing medical treatment here.
President Droupadi Murmu and Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi condoled the deaths and wished speedy recovery for those under treatment.
Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, M K Stalin and Yogi Adityanath, besides their West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee, expressed anguish over the incident and condoled the deaths. Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and the Railways announced ex-gratia to the families of the victims.
The Southern Railway announced holding a statutory inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety into the matter on Sunday.
Chief Minister Stalin said the victims were proceeding towards Rameswaram for pilgrimage and expressed anguish over the fatal incident. He also announced a cash relief of Rs 3 lakh each to the families of the victims. UP CM Adityanath announced Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia to the victims’ kin.