Tamil Nadu
The massive fire broke out
A massive fire broke out in a stationary train compartment at Madurai railway station early this morning, resulting in the tragic deaths of at least 10 people.
Additionally, over 20 individuals sustained injuries during the incident.
According to the Southern Railway, the cause of the fire was determined to be an "illegal gas cylinder" that was present on board the train.
The affected compartment belonged to a private party coach, with the passengers starting the journey from Lucknow.
Upon receiving news of the fire, Madurai district collector MS Sangeetha promptly arrived at the station to assess the situation.
Sangeetha said 10 persons were killed in the fire accident in the train compartment. 20 people with injuries have been admitted to a hospital for treatment, news agency PTI reported.
Police, fire, and rescue services, as well as railway staff, worked together to extinguish the fire and retrieve the charred bodies from the compartment.
According to a statement from Southern Railway, the fire broke out at 5:15 am today and was successfully extinguished by fire service personnel who arrived at the scene half an hour later, at 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....smuggled gas cylinder and this has caused the fire," the release said.
The party coach had started the journey from Lucknow on August 17, scheduled to return to Chennai on Sunday and return to Lucknow from there, it added.
"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 fire. Some passengers had already got down at platform also before detachment of coach," it added, reports PTI.
According to the statement, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh was being provided to each family of the deceased.
In response to the fire incident and casualties, the Southern Railway has established two helpline numbers for information. These numbers are 9360552608 and 8015681915.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest