9 burnt alive in train mishap

Mumbai: Nine persons were charred to death in their sleep when a fire broke out in three coaches of the Bandra-Dehradun Express in neighbouring Thane district in the wee hours on Wednesday, the second fire mishap on a train within a fortnight.
The fire erupted in one of the three coaches and soon spread to other two coaches when the passengers were sleeping at about 2.50 AM. Among the nine dead, one is a woman and four are men while the rest were yet to be identified, said Western Railway PRO Sharat Chandra. Four persons have sustained minor injuries, said police.
The affected coaches were S-2 S-3 and S-4. The maximum numbers of passengers were in S-4 (64) followed by 54 in S-2 and three in S-3. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has expressed grief over the death of passengers and announced an ex-gratia of Rs five lakh each to the next of kin of those killed.
Rs one lakh will be given to those seriously injured and a sum of Rs 50,000 will be given to those who received minor injuries. “The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. However, the fire has been put out and the train has made its forward journey,” Kumar said.
“Due to alertness of the gateman, a major disaster was averted,” Chandra said. The train was halted at Gholvad Railway Station near Dahanu road where the fire was brought under control. Northern Railways have announced helpine numbers — 23342954 and 24355954 — to those seeking information on the train and passengers.  (PTI)