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32 die in Andhra Pradesh train fire

— Photo M. Murali

TRAGEDY AT NIGHT: The burning coaches of the Gautami Express near the Kesamudram railway station in Warangal district on Friday.

KESAMUDRAM (WARANGAL DT.): Thirty-two people were killed and five injured, one seriously, when fire engulfed five coaches of the Secunderabad-Kakinada Gautami Express at 1.10 a.m. on Friday near the Kesamudram railway station, about 70 km from Warangal in Andhra Pradesh on Friday.

The fire that started from a sleeper coach – S10 – spread to S9, S11, S12 and S13 coaches and gave no chance for the passengers to escape.

The fire was allegedly caused by an electric short circuit, but South Central Railway (SCR) officials were unwilling to go into the reasons till forensic experts from Hyderabad, who visited the scene of the tragedy, submitted their report.

Eyewitnesses said the passengers scrambled to get out of the burning compartments.

While many managed to jump out to safety as the train began slowing down, women and children could not escape and succumbed to the fury of the fire. Most of them were in deep sleep when the fire was raging.

Four of the five coaches were completely destroyed, while S13 was partially damaged.

Two pregnant women, Saritha (28) and Bhagyalakshmi (39), died of suffocation while being shifted to hospital. Both were travelling to Rajahmundry and Dr. Saritha was in an advanced stage of pregnancy. All the others were burnt alive.

The S10 and S9 compartments accounted for a majority of the casualties as their doors got jammed and prevented the passengers from escaping. Skulls and bones lay near the doors of these bogies.

The eyewitnesses said the driver halted the train between Kesamudram and Tallapusapalli stations when someone pulled the chain.

Railway and police officials shifted the injured to MGM Hospitals in Warangal.

They also delinked the rest of the train and allowed it to go to Vijayawada. The damaged coaches were hauled to Kesamudram.

Minister for Small Scale Industries G. Surya Rao, who was in the train, said it took an ambulance nearly one hour to reach the difficult terrain where the train was stranded.

Police asked other passengers not to reveal his identity as the area is a Maoist stronghold, he added.

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced that Rs. 5 lakh would be paid as compensation to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs. 1 lakh to the injured in addition to the ex gratia given by the South Central Railway. Minister of State for Railways Narainbhai Rathwa arrived here by a helicopter. Commissioner of Railway Safety R. P. Agarwal also visited the site of the accident.

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