The Hindu : 36 killed in Frontier Mail fire

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 16, 2003

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36 killed in Frontier Mail fire

By Our Staff Correspondent

Rescuers removing a body from the Frontier Mail that caught fire near Ludhiana on Wednesday. - AFP

CHANDIGARH MAY 15. At least 36 persons were killed and 13 injured when three coaches of the Amritsar-bound Frontier Mail from Mumbai caught fire early today. Unofficial sources put the toll at 38 dead and said 20 were injured. It all happened minutes after the train left the Ludhiana railway station.

Reports said that the fire broke out in the S-4 coach and spread to S-3 and S-5. But for the efforts of some armymen who not only pulled the chain to halt the train but also detached the affected coaches and dragged people out of the inferno, the toll could have been much higher.

According to preliminary reports and eyewitness accounts, most victims fainted choked as they were by the thick smoke. The luggage stacked at the entrance of the coaches also created hurdles to escape. About half a dozen persons who took refuge in the toilets hoping the flames would not reach them there perished.

The Chief Operational Manager (Northern Railways), L.R. Luthra, who was travelling in the train, took charge of the rescue and relief as it took at least 40 minutes for the first medical team to reach the site.

Fire-tenders had a tough time fighting the blaze as there was no major water source nearby.

Taking also the help of civilians, the authorities rushed the 13 critically injured passengers to hospitals in Ludhiana. Reports said that nine of them were identified as Sangeeta Rani, Satya Pal and Vikram Singh, (from Meerut), Ashok Bhatia, Anil Kumar (posted with the BSF Jalandhar), Anil's wife Mishita, Padmavati, Ajit Kumar and Uday Bhaskar.

Reports said the fire was noticed around 3.45 a.m., near Ladhowal village.

Most of the victims were sleeping on the upper berths of the three-tier second class coaches.

The makeshift mortuary set up at the Civil hospital in Ludhiana was witness to heart-rending scenes as relatives sifted through the belongings of the victims to identify their loved ones whose bodies had charred beyond recognition. The Railway authorities have set up control rooms at Ambala (telephone: 2634653, 2631275), Saharanpur (2648453, 2610757, 2610175) and Jagadhari (238052, 239170) for information on the accident.

Railways personnel said that the intensity of the fire could be gauged from the fact the roof of coach S-4 had caved in and many metal poles had melted.

Senior officers of the State police and the Railway authorities at the accident site ruled out sabotage, though they stressed that the exact cause could only be identified by a detailed probe.

Traffic on the sector was resumed after some time and the three affected coaches were shifted to the railway yard at Ludhiana for forensic examination.

The Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, the Punjab Governor, Justice (Retd.) O.P. Verma, the Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh, and other Ministers visited the site.

The accident is the second major fire-related tragedy for Ludhiana within a week. On May 10, a dozen persons lost their lives when a hosiery unit in the heart of the city was gutted.

PTI reports:

Describing as "unusual" the burning of three bogies of the Frontier Mail in a short time, the Railway Minister said the probe into the fire by the Commissioner of Railway Safety would be completed within one month and the findings made public. Refusing to hazard a guess about the cause, Mr. Kumar said the aspects to be investigated would include the bogie, its door and electrical problems, if any.

The survivors of the affected coaches would be interviewed to ascertain the cause of the accident, the Minister said. Asked whether the fire was caused by sabotage or any other reason such as the bursting of a stove or an electric short circuit, he said "we will have to wait for the inquiry".

To a question he said the toll was 36 as per the "skull count" but if police or civil administration officials put it at 38 the Railways would accept the figure.

The Railway Coach Factory at Kapurthala was designing a prototype of a coach to check fire from spreading, the Minister said adding that ex gratia of Rs. 1 lakh to the family of each dead, Rs. 15,000 to each seriously injured and Rs. 5,000 to each of the other injured would be paid. The Railway Claims Tribunal would provide all help to the passengers.

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