MADURAI: At least ten passengers, including three women, were charred to death in a fire that broke out inside a halted tourist coach (party coach) near Madurai Railway Junction in the early hours of Saturday.
The accident happened at around 5: 15 a.m., when one of the passengers in the coach was making tea using an LPG cylinder, which triggered the fire.
According to the Railway officials, five men and three women who were believed to be sleeping during the time were charred to death. two more deceased person's gender is not known.
Madurai district collector M S Sangeetha, who rushed to the station to enquire, said ten persons were killed in the fire accident in the train compartment and 20 others with injuries have been admitted to a hospital for treatment. 55 persons have been rescued from the coach.
It is said around 70 passengers were in the tourist coach attached to a train (16730- Punalur-Madurai express) in Nagercoil. The coach was detached from the express and halted at Madurai stabling line where the fire incident happened.
According to B Ganesan, the Chief Public Relations Officer of Southern Railway the passengers in the coach had "illegally smuggled gas cylinder" and this caused the fire.
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 Express). The party coach was detached and kept at the Madurai Stabling line. The passengers in the private party coach had illegally smuggled gas cylinders and this has caused the fire. Many passengers got out of the coach after noticing the fire. Some passengers had got down at the platform itself,” Ganesan said.
The party coach had started the journey from Lucknow on August 17. They are scheduled to return to Chennai on August 27 and return to Lucknow from there.
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Ganesan said that anyone can book a party coach using the IRCTC portal, however, they are not allowed to carry any inflammable material. The coach is to be used only for transportation purposes. However, this group has allegedly smuggled a gas cylinder.
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.
State Revenue Minister P Moorthy and Madurai police commissioner Dr J Loganathan inspected the spot.
Ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh was being paid to each of the families of the deceased, it said.
Southern Railway also announced two helpline numbers for information related to the fire incident and causalities, 9360552608, and 8015681915.
Governor RN Ravi condoled the death of the 10 persons killed in the fire accident. "Anguished by the loss of precious lives in a fire incident in a train coach near Madurai. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved family members of the deceased. Wish for the safety and speedy recovery of injured, " the governor said in his message.
The fire accident has delayed further train operations in Madurai. Further investigations are underway.