Passengers of Madurai train that caught fire to be flown to Lucknow

CHENNAI: Southern Railway, in association with IRCTC, has made air travel arrangements to Lucknow for the return of surviving passengers involved in the Madurai train fire accident.

Southern Railway also has made arrangements for the transport of the bodies of the deceased by air to Lucknow by duly following all the necessary medical and legal formalities.

In the early morning hours of August 26, a fire accident took place in a private party booked Sleeper (SL) coach (booked online through IRCTC) stabled/parked in Madurai Yard, due to illegal use of cooking gas cylinder by passengers of the coach.

Fire tenders were rushed to the accident spot, and the fire was put off by 7.15 hours.

R N Singh, General Manager, Southern Railway, rushed to the spot and conducted an inspection accompanied by P Ananth DRM/Madurai and other senior officials.

The general manager interacted with rescued passengers and also visited Madurai Railway Hospital, where the injured passengers are undergoing treatment.

With respect to the ‘illegal smuggling’ of cooking gas cylinder in the tourist coach by the tour operator, a criminal case has been registered against him by the Government Railway Police (GRP) under various sections of the IPC and Railways Act.

In this train fire incident, 9 casualties and 8 minor injuries have been reported.

Ex-gratia

An ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakhs has been announced by the Railway administration to the family of deceased passengers and Rs 2 lakhs towards those grievously injured, and Rs 50,000 towards passengers with minor injury.

Statutory inspection by CRS:

Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Southern Circle, Bengaluru will conduct a statutory inquiry into the incident.