Tamil Nadu: 9 Killed As Massive Fire Breaks Out On Train At Madurai Railway Junction

A passenger train fire that broke out inside the carriage on Saturday at the Madurai railway station in Tamil Nadu resulted in the death of at least 9 people and 20 other critical injuries. Presently, the rescue operations are underway.

As per IANS' report, six of the deceased were from Uttar Pradesh, and there were 55 passengers in the afflicted coach. As per a statement by Southern Railway, passengers accommodated in a private party coach "illegally smuggled" gas cylinder causing the fire in the train. The fire was doused after the Madurai firefighters arrived at the scene.

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PTI quotes Madurai District Collector MS Sangeetha, saying, "Around 5:30 am today, there was fire in a coach halted here at Madurai railway station. There were pilgrims travelling from Uttar Pradesh in it. When they lit the gas stove to make coffee, the gas cylinder blasted. As of now, we have retrieved nine bodies."

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Fire reported in private/individual coach at Madurai yard at 5:15 am today in Punalur-Madurai Express. Fire services have arrived and put off the fire and no damage has caused to another coaches. The passengers have allegedly smuggled gas cylinder that caused… pic.twitter.com/5H7wQeGu93

— ANI (@ANI) August 26, 2023

The accident happened as passengers prepared to depart for a darshan at the Meenakshi temple as the train was parked in a yard 1km from the Madurai railway station. When the train arrived at the Madurai train station, many passengers had already disembarked.

The “party coach”  carrying the passengers was scheduled to make a return to Chennai tomorrow by Train Number 16824, the Kollam-Chennai Egmore Ananthapuri Express and then return to Lucknow from there.

Railway officers including the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM), and other divisional officers reached the site of the accident to inspect the situation.