Whether it was a sabotage or a plain fire accident, the stark reality is that 32 passengers of the Chennai- bound Tamil Nadu express were burnt to death and at least 25 suffered burn injuries.
The tragedy in the form of a fire that struck the bogie number S-11 of the train in the wee hours today near Nellore town in Andhra Pradesh, left many scars. The passengers were so close home, as the train from New Delhi was to reach its destination in less than an hour, but fate willed otherwise.
The Union Railway Minister, Mr Mukul Roy, was quick to order an inquiry and announce ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to each of the families of the dead and Rs 1 lakh to those seriously injured. A Committee will submit the primary report within 15 days.
The Minister said, “The cause of the fire is still unknown. However, initial reports suggest sound of a blast at the time of the incident. An electric short-circuit cannot be ruled out as well”.
The South Central Railway said the dead included three children and six women. Four bodies were yet to be identified. The fire was first noticed by the Nellore station master while the train was passing through around 4.15 a.m. It was brought to a halt between Nellore and Vedayapalem stations. It was controlled by 5.20 a.m.
Eye witnesses said, “The entire damage happened in just a few minutes, as the fire raged, spread rapidly and gutted the entire bogey, hardly giving a chance to the passengers who were mostly asleep”.
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, who rushed to the spot said, “Whether sabotage or fire, it has to be thoroughly investigated. The State Forensic Lab, Commissioner of Railway Safety will investigate the cause”.
He wanted the Railway Ministry to undertake a safety audit of all trains. This is the second accident in Andhra Pradesh in recent times.
Earlier, an accident in Penugonda of Anantapur district also had nearly a dozen causalities. Mr Roy, along with his deputy, Mr K.H. Muniyappa, and the Railway Board Chairman, Mr Vinay Mittal, visited the spot in the evening and met the injured in different hospitals in Nellore town.
Keywords: Fire, New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express, Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, S-11 coach, dead, injured, Tamil Nadu Express fire accident
New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express fire accident
Comments:
is it because early morning it is the practice of unauthorised tea
vendors making tea with stove near toilet.all materials used in
furnishing the coaches rexin, laminated plywood with phenolbond aid
spread of fire. narrow windows make it impossible escape. it is a
veritable death trap
Accidents have become a routine and nobody bothers about the loss of lives caused by very frequent accidents.Expression of condolences to bereaved familes has become a ritual and some papers strongly condemn the authorities for their casualness and lack of taking adequate safety measures.Ministers and MLAs,MPS sometimes vist the accident sites and express their condolences and assure prompt action and enquiries.After one or two days,the incident is forgotten and no further news about the action against recurrence of such mishaps,penalties imposed on erring satff and other authorities,etc.Is it the way the concerned Ministries and Dept to react when the ordinary masses die because of the poor administration and lack of safety of passengers?Where is the morale of leaders? What are the minimum ethics and values that need to be adhered to maintain safety of passengers?Loss of life is nobody's concern who run public Utility Services?Monetary compensation is not everything that matter?
I am disgusted to lodge this message. We as a nation shall stand in
utter shame. Every year, Children fell in to Borewells and Open
Manholes, Buses fall in to water either through reckless driving or
due to hopeless bridge condition, a couple of bus and train accidents
and to the list now, we must add Death Due to Fire etc.,
Most of the politicians have taken the attitude of "Incidents Just
Happen" & "We are Help Less".
Ministers still remain in cabinet passing a remark stating they are
not working only for the Middle Class.
Every incident is avoidable, in the first place.
The tally due to lack of safety and improper governance has taken far
more lives than the riots and terror attacks.
Humble citizens in the hands of Heartless Leader, Administrators and
Politicians.
Not even a single train in India is maintained properly, Politicains, officials, all are only concerned with filling in their own pockets rather deeply looking into people's concern.
The most Worrying factor.. why are we not bothered? nobody knows..
Few days this story will continue, then the next episode will begin...
maintenance practices have collapsed.Train inspections have become too routine.A certain casual approach prevails,bordering on negligence.
It is heart rending. The PM should sack both the railway minister and the chairman of the railway board. The SC should take up a suo moto case of safety in railways similar to what the Madras HC did recently during the School Bus tragedy. Sacking railway minister will teach a signal lesson to the ultimate rabble rouser Mamata di what it is to be held accountable.
This whole incident could have been avoided or at least the impact could have been
reduced if we had a proper fire alarm system in the train. Safety is often given least
priority and politicians are always busy thinking about vote banks.
We, as a citizen also responsible for this. We accept money for vote; we protest
against bus fare hike, train fare hike, petrol and diesel hike. We expect everything to
be subsidised and end up getting poor quality of service. We need a radical shift in
our thought process. We should educate illiterates what is good and what is not
good. Instead of just blaming politician, we should look back and change our
ourselves first.
This is sheer Negligence and mater of inefficient Basics in India.
We are still far off from the word 'Development'.
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