Thirty-two passengers, including six women and three children were burnt to death when the Sleeper Class Coach S-11 of New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire in the early hours of Monday morning.
The blaze broke out at 04.22am near Nellore station in Andhra Pradesh of Vijayawada Division of South Central Railway on July 30.
An inquiry has now been ordered and sabotage has not been ruled out.
According to reports, while the train was passing Nellore station, a gateman at the level crossing gate noticed the fire in S-11 coach and informed Dy Station Superintendent of Nellore who managed to stop the train after the Old South Cabin of Nellore Station.
As the train stopped near the station, fire tenders swung into action and put out the fire within an hour.
A South Central Railway official said: “Twenty-five passengers with burn injuries have been admitted to Government Hospital, Nellore, and a nearby private hospital. The coach was detached from the train and left for the destination.”
The cause of the fire is thought to be a short circuit on the electrical wires in one of the toilets, but a train ticket checker (TTE) said that he had seen three people in that coach with unreserved tickets acting suspiciously.
Indian Railway Minister Mukul Roy said: “The inquiry has been ordered to find out the cause of the fire and will submit its preliminary report to the Railways within 15 days.”
Adding further, he said: “The divisional railway manager told me that there was a loud noise. We do not know the cause of the fire and nothing is being ruled out — whether it was because of an electrical short-circuit or whether there were inflammable materials there.”
“The statutory inquiry into this incident will be conducted by D. K. Singh, Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), South Central Circle, under the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” Ministry of Railways said in statement.
It was reported that some of the passengers travelling in the train said that smoke engulfed the bogie soon after the fire broke out making it difficult for them to escape.
The Railways will also offer a job to one dependent of each of those killed as well as compensation of $9,000. It has also offered $1,800 for those who are seriously injured and $451 for those with minor injuries.
The minister said: “The time had come to upgrade safety measures and budgetary support was needed for this and he will raise the matter of safety in trains with the Prime Minister and the Planning Commission.”
The record of rail safety in India is very poor, on July 19, a long-distance train collided with suburban train killing one person and injuring many.
