Madurai train fire: Southern Railway safety commissioner to probe incident

Southern Railway Safety commissioner will on Sunday, August 27, conduct a statutory inquiry in the Madurai train coach blaze in which nine people were charred to death The Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Circle, Bengaluru, AM Chowdhary will hold the inquiry at the Divisional Railway Manager’s complex, Madurai.

Southern Railways, in a statement, said that any member of the public who has knowledge about the incident and matters connected with it can write to the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Southern Railway, 2nd Floor, Rail Sanrakasha Bhavan, Bengaluru, 5600023.

Nine people were killed and five were injured after a fire broke out in a private coach of the Punalur-Madurai Express that had halted in Madurai on August 26. The fire is said to have broken out at 5:15 am and doused by 7:15 am. The fire was spotted in a private coach on platforms 5 and 6. A press release from the Southern Railway said that passengers had ‘smuggled’ cooking gas onto the train and the cylinder suddenly exploded which caused the fire. The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services have also constituted a ten-member committee to probe into the train blazed. 

Read: Madurai train fire: Forum asks how passengers got a cylinder onboard, blames railways