Friends of the Rail Forum

India train fire kills dozens – report

Electrical fault said to have caused blaze on rail service in the town of Nellore, south of Hyderabad

Associated Press in Hyderabad
guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 July 2012 05.31 BST

At least 25 people have died in a fire that swept through a running train in southern India, according to an official.

District collector B Sridha says the train stopped after fire in one coach was noticed by an official at a railway station on Monday.

He said the fire was believed to have been caused by a short circuit in the coach. It had been extinguished and at least 22 injured people have been hospitalised.

The fire was reported at Nellore, a town about 310 miles south of Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh state.

Sridha says the rescue operation was continuing and the death toll is likely to rise.

India train fire kills 47 in Andhra Pradesh

30 July 2012 Last updated at 04:09 GMT BBC

At least 47 people have been killed in a fire on a passenger train travelling in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, officials say.

One coach of the Tamil Nadu Express travelling to Chennai from Delhi caught fire early on Monday. The cause of the fire is still not clear.

Officials said the death toll could rise further as there were 72 passengers in the affected coach.

The incident happened as the train was passing through Nellore station.

Nellore is located 500km (310 miles) south of Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh.

B Sridhar, head of the Nellore district administration, told the BBC that 28 passengers travelling in the coach had been injured and taken to local hospitals.

He said an electrical short circuit could have led to the fire, and that most of the passengers were asleep when the incident happened at 04:20 local time (1050 GMT).

The affected coach was completely gutted and rescue teams had to break in using special equipment.

In May, 24 people were killed when a passenger train crashed into a goods train in Andhra Pradesh state.

Train accidents in India have killed 1,220 people over the past five years, railway officials recently revealed.

Accidents are common on the state-owned Indian railways, an immense network connecting every corner of the country.

It operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day.

India orders probe of deadly Andhra Pradesh train blaze

30 July 2012 Last updated at 16:04 GMT BBC

India's railways minister has ordered an inquiry into a fire on a passenger train that killed at least 32 people in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

A coach of the Tamil Nadu Express from Delhi to Chennai caught fire as it was passing through Nellore station early on Monday.

The cause of the blaze is still unclear, but authorities suspect an electrical short circuit.

Railways Minister Mukul Roy said sabotage could not be ruled out.

He told a news conference that the operator of a level crossing near Nellore station had "heard a loud sound when the fire occurred in the coach".

"Nothing can be excluded and nothing can be said without an investigation," he was quoted as saying by Indian media. "It will be investigated if inflammable substances were in the compartment or it was caused by a short circuit."

The minister also said he had ordered the payment of 500,000 rupees ($9,000; £5,700) in compensation to the relatives of each of those killed in the blaze.

Accidents are common on India's immense state-owned rail network.

In May, 24 people were killed when a passenger train crashed into a goods train, also in Andhra Pradesh.

Revised down

Most of the passengers were asleep when Monday's fire broke out at 04:20 local time (22:50 GMT), said B Sridhar, head of Nellore's district administration.

Some of them managed to jump off the moving train before it came to a halt, but 25 passengers in the coach were injured and taken to local hospitals.

Earlier, officials had put the death toll at 47.

The town of Nellore is about 500km (310 miles) south of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh's district capital.

"I woke up after hearing loud screams. All I could see is black smoke," Y Sampath, a software engineer who managed to escape the blaze, told The Hindu newspaper.

He was travelling with his sister, who is missing, the newspaper said.

The affected coach was completely gutted and rescue teams had to break in using special equipment.

Train accidents in India have killed 1,220 people over the past five years, railway officials recently revealed.

India's railway operates 9,000 passenger trains and carries some 18 million passengers every day, connecting every corner of the country

Will be interesting to see what comes out of the enquiry.

India is proud of her railway and its operation, and takes these sort of issues seriously....