Thane: Nine passengers burned to death as three coaches of the Mumbai-Dehra Dun Express train caught fire while passing through Dahanu in Thane district of Maharashtra a little after it left the Bandra terminus in Mumbai early on Wednesday morning. Fifteen others suffered injuries.
The train left Bandra terminus at 12.05 am and the fire broke out at around 2:30 am after it passed Dahanu station. As the driver could pull up at the next Gholwad railway station, 145 km north of Mumbai, immediately, more casualties were averted.
Medical relief trains reached the spot from Valsad and Mumbai soon after. Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has ordered an inquiry into the fire and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the victims' families. A sum of Rs 50,000 each will be given to those who suffered injuries. The Commissioner of Railway Safety will conduct an inquiry into the fire incident, Kharge said.
Five bodies, extricated from the coaches S2, S3 and S4, have been sent for post-mortem examination. They have been identified as of Ms Deepika Shah (65), Dev Shankar Upadhyay (48), Surendra Shah (68), Nasirkhan Ahmedkhan Pathan (50) and Feroz Khan (38). The other four are charred beyond recognition.
At Valsad five more coaches were added to the train before onward journey to Dehra Dun.
Helpline numbers for enquiries are: Mumbai: 022-23011853 and 022-23007386; Dahanu Road: 022 67649632; Bandra Terminus: 022 26435756; New Delhi: 011 23342954 & 1072; and, Dehradun: 0135 2624002, 2624003.
