Railway officials claim to have found traces of kerosene but fire department refuses to acknowledge it
Officials from the Fire Department and Railways were clearly heading for
a showdown over the reasons behind the mysterious fire that broke out
in the S11 coach of Tamil Nadu Express on Monday. While the Fire
Department officials, who were the first to reach the spot, maintained
that they did not find a trace of kerosene, the railway authorities on
the other hand claimed that they found traces of kerosene indicating
links to sabotage.
“Neither did we find traces of kerosene nor smell it soon after our
fire-fighters entered the compartment. Our personnel entered the
compartment moments after the fire-fighting operation concluded around
5.30 a.m.,” said Nellore District Fire Officer G. Srinivasulu.
Investigation
He asserted that the railway officials came to the accident site only
after fire-fighters reached the spot. However, senior fire officials
said a comprehensive investigation should be taken up to unravel the
reasons behind the mishap. They said that two out of four doors in the
compartment were closed and flames did not spread to other coaches even
though the train was travelling at a speed of over 110 km per hour while
passing through the Nellore station.
Officials argued that fire could have originated between seat numbers 50
and 60 because of the extensive damage of these seats. The intensity of
the damage is more between these seats when compared to other areas in
the compartment.
“Charred and twisted bodies were lying around these seats. This clearly
indicates that fire might have emanated from seat numbers 50 to 60, they
said.
It was a railway employee, Krishnamurthy, who was the first to alert the
fire control room at around 4.30 a.m. on Monday about the flames that
engulfed the train minutes after it crossed the Nellore railway station.
As the fire station is just 1.5 km from the spot, two fire tenders were
the first to reach the spot within five minutes. The fire tenders
immediately carried out fire-fighting operation.
“We battled for an hour to douse the flames. We succeeded in rescuing
two persons from the coach. The injured were shifted to the hospital in
108 ambulances,” Mr. Srinivasulu explained.
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