26 burnt alive in train

AC coach of B’lore-Nanded Express catches fire near Puttaparthi around 3.45 am

12 women and two children among victims; 65 passengers were in the coach; Bodies kept at Victoria Hospital in Bangalore for identification; Survivors rushed to hospitals in Puttaparthi and Anantapur; PM expresses shock; Rly minister announces `5 lakh ex-gratia, orders probe

• Alert train driver noticed flames and quickly brought the train to a halt
• Sealed windows and hydraulic air-tight doors make escape difficult
• Survivors complain there were no fire extinguishers in the coach
• Of survivors, 15 admitted in hospitals in Anantapur, Puttaparthi
• DNA samples collected as bodies charred beyond recognition, doctors said

Anantapur: As many as 26 passengers, including 12 women and two children, were burnt to death early on Saturday when fire broke out in an air-conditioned coach – fourth from the engine – of the Bangalore-Nanded Express near Kothacheruvu railway station in Anantapur district at around 3.45 am.

The alert driver of the train who saw the flames leaping out of the coach quickly stopped the train and the ill-fated coach was detached, preventing the fire from spreading to other bogies.

The remaining 36 of the 65 passengers jumped off the B-1 AC 3-tier coach even as searing flames were rapidly spreading. Fifteen of the survivors were admitted to hospitals in Anantapur and Puttaparthi for emergency treatment, according South Western Railway spokesman S Biswas.

The train passes through north Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Marathwada region of eastern Maharashtra. It left Bangalore at 10.45 pm on Friday for Nanded in Maharashtra. A fire broke out around 3.45 am, and the blaze quickly engulfed the entire coach after the train left Kothacheruvu station and proceeded towards Dharmavaram. The exact cause is still not known but railway officials suspect a short circuit in the AC coach. Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said prima facie there could be two reasons - one is short circuit and the other presence of inflammable material. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed shock and grief over the loss of lives in the mishap.

He also spoke to the Railway Minister and inquired about the rescue and relief work being carried out at the site. Railway Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge and Union Minister of State for Railways Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy rushed to the site for firsthand account of the tragedy.

Kharge ordered an inquiry by the commissioner of railway safety (southern circle) and announced Rs 5 lakh ex- gratia to the kin of the victims. He assured the injured that their treatment expenses would be met by the railways.

The survivors said that they were at the other end of the coach and saw the flames rapidly approaching their portion and quickly jumped out of the burning coach.

Sealed windows and hydraulic air-tight doors on either side made the escape nearly impossible for the ill-fated passengers as the coach went up in flames.

Officials and local people rushed to the spot and carried out relief operations. The relief operations were hampered due to poor visibility under foggy conditions. Anantapur District Collector D S Lokesh Kumar and DIG B Balakrishna supervised the rescue and relief operations.

Around 7 am, the rest of the train was allowed to resume its journey. "The passengers list, released later in the day, showed that about 80 per cent of the tickets were booked online, as 'e-ticket' was mentioned in the remarks column," Biswas said. A few surviving passengers complained to the district authorities that there was no fire extinguisher in the AC coach.

The railways set up helpline numbers to disseminate latest information to passengers and family members of the affected. Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the state-run Victoria hospital in Bangalore where charred bodies, many of them beyond recognition, were brought from the accident site in four ambulances. Relatives and friends of the victims rushed to identify them. "The bodies will be kept in the hospital morgue for forensic tests for identification. Blood samples of their relatives will be taken to match with that of the victims through DNA test," South Western Railway deputy chief engineer Hari Babu said.

According to a doctor at the hospital, femur (thigh bone) of the dead will be preserved for DNA tests as many bodies were charred beyond recognition.

This is the second train incident in the district. In the previous incident in May 2012, 25 passengers were killed when the Bangalore-bound Hampi Express from Hubli in north Karnataka rammed into a stationary freight train near Penukonda in the district after its driver overshot the signal near the station.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge described the incident as "tragic and most unfortunate" and ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner of Railway Safety. Forensic teams from Hyderabad were rushed to the spot to collect samples for analysis. The Railways have requested relatives not to go to the accident site and instead come to Victoria Hospital in Bangalore for identification of bodies.