The fire in Bangalore-Nanded Express started when the train was passing through a tunnel, railway police suspect.
The blood stains of a woman, who jumped from the train on seeing the flames first , stood as an evidence for the police to come to such a conclusion.
Guntakal railway divisional SP Janardhan on Monday said the B1 AC compartmentcaught fire inside the tunnel, which is 400 metres away from the place it came to a halt.
Janardhan, who visited the Puttaparthi railway station where the charred remains of the compartment were still stationed for investigation, said there is a tunnel 400 metres away from the spot which the train had crossed before coming to a stop.
“The train caught fire in the tunnel and a woman passenger, who saw it first, jumped out. A Kothacheruvu police constable saw the woman injured and he called 108 ambulance and shifted her to a hospital. The woman is alive. Inside the tunnel where she jumped at the 7th block, we saw blood stains as evidence,’’ he said.
Stating there is a need for an in-depth investigation into the accident, he said they would start the procedure as soon as they got forensic lab report.
Meanwhile, Forensic Lab director Sarada Avadhanam who, along with her team, visited the charred bogie of the ill-fated train at Puttaparthi station, said they collected all suspicious and burnt materials into more than 100 bags from the gutted coach till now and would analyse them in the laboratory.