TN train fire mishap kills nine; officials blame cylinder 'illegally' taken inside for blaze

Madurai: At least nine pilgrims bound for Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu met with a tragic end on Saturday when a fire broke out inside a stationary train compartment at the railway station here in the small hours of Saturday, the Southern Railway said.

It also said a gas cylinder "illegally" taken inside the coach led to the blaze. Various angles including a possible gas leak having triggered the blaze are being probed.

The 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.

Six of the nine deceased have been identified. They were three men and women each.

According to one of the survivors, only after a locked door was broken open could many even run towards safety, possibly avoiding a bigger tragedy.

While the Southern Railway initially put the toll at 10, it later revised it to nine. About 20 people are undergoing medical treatment here.

The fire broke out at 5.15 am on Saturday and Fire service personnel who arrived at the spot half an hour later put down the blaze by 7.15 am, a Southern Railway release said.

"This is a private party coach that was attached at Nagercoil Junction yesterday (Aug 25) by train no. 16730 (Punalur-Madurai Exp). The party coach was detached and kept at Madurai Stabling line. The passengers in the private party coach have smuggled gas cylinder and this has caused the fire," the release said.

The party coach had started the journey from Lucknow on August 17 and was scheduled to return to Chennai on Sunday and proceed to the UP capital there on.

"While the coach was stabled/parked, some members of the party in the private party coach were using the illegally smuggled cooking gas cylinder unauthorisedly for preparing tea/snacks, which caused the fire in the stabled/ parked coach. Most of the passengers could get out of the coach on noticing the fire. Some passengers had already got down at the platform also before detachment of the coach," it said.

The private party had carried gas cylinder, stove and inflammable articles "which led to the fire," it said. Among the items found at the spot was an LPG cylinder, bag of potatoes, utensils and wooden logs. (PTI)