Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh

Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh @30/07/2012 at 4.45am


Nellore : 47 train passengers were charred and 25 others injured when a fire broke out in a coach of the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore in Andhra Paradesh in the wee early Monday due to a short circuit. Additional DG Railways V S K Kaumudi told PTI that 47 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.

 According to Nellore district officials, the fire was noticed at around 4.15 am by a gateman, who 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. Nellore District Collector B Sridhar said, “There was a short circuit near the toilet and the train was moving at a speed of 110 kms per hour. It was going to Chennai from Delhi. All the passengers were asleep when the fire broke out at 4:30 AM. People were not able to come out immediately”

The fire spread fast and the passengers could not come out through one of the doors because of the fire. So the other edge of the coach was to be used. Some people could come out while others succumbed to death,” he said. The bodies have been charred so it is difficult to identify them, Sridhar said. Additional Joint Collector Laxmikant said the toll could rise up to 35 as some of the bodies are still to be recovered from the charred S-11 compartment. Nellore district police officials said 14 passengers in the bogie were safe. Some of the passengers travelling in the train told reporters that smoke engulfed the bogie soon after the fire broke out making it difficult for them to come out.

 Railway Minister Mukul Roy has announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of the kin of those killed in the mishap.

 The Railway Minister also announced a payment of Rs 1 lakh each for those who were grievously injured and Rs 25,000 for those who suffered simple injuries.

A list put out by the Southern Railway showed those admitted to Government Hospital Nellore include Rekha (S11-5), Veena (S11-63), Sambasivarao, Varma Sirish, Venkata Kotishwara Rao, Verma, Hussain, Raghavan, KK Sunil Kumar, Harshed, Sandeep Agnihotri and Amir Preth Singh. Those admitted to People's Polyclinic are Vijaykumar and Krushi. Six more people have been taken to Jayabarathi Hospital in Nellore.

Railways have identified them as Sarala, KK Banzarlal, Udaya Baskar, AR Srinivasalu, Prakash Singh and Shoba Singh. (Times Of India) Doctors at Nellore Hospital can be contacted at 0861-2330024, 2328500.

The contact numbers for People's Polyclinic are 0861-2347704, 2309662.