Nine people were killed when fire broke out in the Dehradun Express early on Wednesday morning near Dahanu Road in Thane, Maharashtra.
The fire, which broke out in the S4 coach, spread to two more coaches, S2 and S3.
The train had left Mumbai at 12am and was on the Mumbai-Surat line when the fire broke out around 2am.
Of those killed, five have been identified, Western Railway (WR) officials said. Three of them are from Mumbai, while two are from Gujarat.
According to WR spokesperson Sharat Chandrayan, four of those identified died due to asphyxiation.
The identities of the rest could not be established as their bodies have been charred beyond recognition.
Railway officials claimed the guard noticed the fire and brought the train to a halt, and separated the three coaches from the rest of the train. Passengers too were alerted by the smoke.
Officials said casualties were limited because the train wasn't fully booked. There were 24 passengers in S2, seven in S3 and 51 in S4.
Railway officials claimed that they suspect the fire could have resulted from a short circuit in the S4 coach. The Railway Board has constituted an inquiry into the causes of the fire.
The commissioner of Railway Safety will conduct an inquiry into the fire incident, Railway Board Chairman Arunendra Kumar said.
A team from Kalina Forensic Laboratory has collected samples from the accident site.
Officials claimed that relief reached the passengers in about 40 minutes and that they were transported to Golwad station. However, passengers claim the help did not get to them until after 4am.
The Railways has offered a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the dead. Rs 1 lakh will be given to those seriously injured and a sum of Rs 50,000 will be given to those who received minor injuries, Kumar said.
DNA tests
DNA tests will be conducted on four unidentified bodies of the nine passengers who died in Wednesday's Dehradun Express fire in Thane, near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, an official said here Thursday.
"Their bodies have been burnt beyond recognition and hence it has been decided to conduct DNA tests," a Western Railway spokesperson told IANS.
The victims are believed to have been travelling in S-2 and S-3 coaches, which along with S-4 caught fire around 2.35 a.m. early Wednesday near Gholvad, around 145 km north of Mumbai.
The bodies are in custody of the Government Railway Police which will arrange for the DNA testing and later complete the formalities of handing these over to the bereaved families.
Nine passengers, including a woman, were killed when a fire engulfed the three sleeper coaches of the speeding Mumbai Bandra Terminus-Dehradun Express.
The fire which ravaged three sleeper coaches of the train caught the sleeping passengers unawares. It was first noticed by Jawahar Singh, a level-crossing gateman who alerted the Gholvad station master.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety will conduct an inquiry.
Thursday 09 January 2014
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2536137/Nine-killed-fire-breaks-Mumbai-train.html
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/379464/dna-tests-identify-train-fire.html
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