It was a harrowing experience for Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express passengers as they saw people burning inside the ill-fated coach.
Chitra, a passenger from Delhi, heard screams for help as her bogie was engulfed in fire as the train just left Nellore station in the wee hours.
'It was smoke all around and I jumped out of the train,' she said recounting the early morning horror even as many of her fellow passengers were fast asleep.
Sahaj Ahmed, a native of Jammu and Kashmir, who had boarded the train at Bhopal said he ran for safety as soon as he realised the disaster was waiting to happen.
'It was smoke and panic all around and I ran for my life in pitch dark,' he said, expressing apprehensions that he could have run over dead bodies.
The more fortunate passengers from adjacent compartments had a different story to narrate. With rains lashing at various places during their near three-day journey, they had shut most of the windows and doors.
'Therefore we could not hear the screams of those from S11 coach and it dawned on us quite late that a mishap had occurred, resulting in some delay in reaching out to them,' Devanathan, travelling with his family in a nearby coach, said.
All they could see after reaching S11 was a thin film of smoke and dust, he said.
The train which left New Delhi on Saturday night, arrived here around 11.30 am after detaching the S11 coach at Nellore.
Southern Railway has set up an Emergency Desk at Central Railway station.
CHIRANJEEVI, NAIDU BLAME RAILWAYS
Congress MP K Chiranjeevi and Telugu Desam party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu blamed the negligence by the railways for Monday's train disaster at Nellore.
Both the leaders visited Nellore railway station and inspected the compartment, which was gutted in the fire killing 35 people.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy too appeared unhappy with the railways and pointed out that this is second such incident in the state in less than three months.
'Railways have to think seriously (about passenger safety) and do safety audit of all trains,' he told reporters after going around the charred compartment.
'People in large numbers travel by trains. They have confidence in railways,' the chief minister said while calling for a comprehensive probe by the railways.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi said railways were not paying attention to passengers' safety. He stressed the need for speeding up the modernisation of railways.
'Indian railways is the largest organisation in the world but we still follow the old safety and security systems introduced during the British time,' said the Rajya Sabha member.
Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that railways had no seriousness towards the passenger safety. 'The negligence by the centre and railways is to be blamed for this tragedy. At least now they should wake up from deep slumber,' he said .
The TDP chief said two lakh posts in railways were vacant and many of them relate to safety.
He criticised the railways for not sending forensic experts to collect the evidence despite the doubts that the tragedy could be a result of sabotage.
PM, JAYALALITHAA CONDOLE DEATHS
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, DMK president M.Karunanidhi, DMDK chief A Vijayakant and others on Monday condoled the death of 35 people, burnt alive in a fire on the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express.
The prime minister also directed the railway ministry to coordinate relief work. 'PM condoles the deaths in a rail accident near Nellore, asks railway ministry to coordinate relief work with the state government,' a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.
The central government has announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakh each for the families of those killed and Rs.1 lakh each for those seriously injured.
In her message, Jayalalithaa said she has deputed senior ministers and officials to Nellore to offer help to the passengers. She also announced a solatium of Rs.1 lakh to the families of dead passengers and Rs.25,000 to those who are injured in the accident Condoling the death of passengers, Karunanidhi said he was shocked to hear about the accident.
Vijayakant, who is also Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly, urged the railways to focus on passenger safety.
DMK's parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, also condoled the death of passengers.
He said in the next meeting of the committee in New Delhi, measures to prevent the repeat of such accidents would be discussed and the recommendations would be submitted to parliament.
The fire broke out in the S11 coach of the train between 4.30 a.m. and 4.45 a.m. minutes after the Chennai-bound train passed through Nellore railway station in south coastal Andhra Pradesh, about 450 km from Hyderabad.
The cause of the fire, suspected to be an electric short-circuit, is being ascertained. Twenty-seven injured passengers are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Nellore.
Chitra, a passenger from Delhi, heard screams for help as her bogie was engulfed in fire as the train just left Nellore station in the wee hours.
'It was smoke all around and I jumped out of the train,' she said recounting the early morning horror even as many of her fellow passengers were fast asleep.
Sahaj Ahmed, a native of Jammu and Kashmir, who had boarded the train at Bhopal said he ran for safety as soon as he realised the disaster was waiting to happen.
'It was smoke and panic all around and I ran for my life in pitch dark,' he said, expressing apprehensions that he could have run over dead bodies.
The more fortunate passengers from adjacent compartments had a different story to narrate. With rains lashing at various places during their near three-day journey, they had shut most of the windows and doors.
'Therefore we could not hear the screams of those from S11 coach and it dawned on us quite late that a mishap had occurred, resulting in some delay in reaching out to them,' Devanathan, travelling with his family in a nearby coach, said.
All they could see after reaching S11 was a thin film of smoke and dust, he said.
The train which left New Delhi on Saturday night, arrived here around 11.30 am after detaching the S11 coach at Nellore.
Southern Railway has set up an Emergency Desk at Central Railway station.
CHIRANJEEVI, NAIDU BLAME RAILWAYS
Congress MP K Chiranjeevi and Telugu Desam party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu blamed the negligence by the railways for Monday's train disaster at Nellore.
Both the leaders visited Nellore railway station and inspected the compartment, which was gutted in the fire killing 35 people.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy too appeared unhappy with the railways and pointed out that this is second such incident in the state in less than three months.
'Railways have to think seriously (about passenger safety) and do safety audit of all trains,' he told reporters after going around the charred compartment.
'People in large numbers travel by trains. They have confidence in railways,' the chief minister said while calling for a comprehensive probe by the railways.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi said railways were not paying attention to passengers' safety. He stressed the need for speeding up the modernisation of railways.
'Indian railways is the largest organisation in the world but we still follow the old safety and security systems introduced during the British time,' said the Rajya Sabha member.
Former chief minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that railways had no seriousness towards the passenger safety. 'The negligence by the centre and railways is to be blamed for this tragedy. At least now they should wake up from deep slumber,' he said .
The TDP chief said two lakh posts in railways were vacant and many of them relate to safety.
He criticised the railways for not sending forensic experts to collect the evidence despite the doubts that the tragedy could be a result of sabotage.
PM, JAYALALITHAA CONDOLE DEATHS
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, DMK president M.Karunanidhi, DMDK chief A Vijayakant and others on Monday condoled the death of 35 people, burnt alive in a fire on the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express.
The prime minister also directed the railway ministry to coordinate relief work. 'PM condoles the deaths in a rail accident near Nellore, asks railway ministry to coordinate relief work with the state government,' a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.
The central government has announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakh each for the families of those killed and Rs.1 lakh each for those seriously injured.
In her message, Jayalalithaa said she has deputed senior ministers and officials to Nellore to offer help to the passengers. She also announced a solatium of Rs.1 lakh to the families of dead passengers and Rs.25,000 to those who are injured in the accident Condoling the death of passengers, Karunanidhi said he was shocked to hear about the accident.
Vijayakant, who is also Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly, urged the railways to focus on passenger safety.
DMK's parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, also condoled the death of passengers.
He said in the next meeting of the committee in New Delhi, measures to prevent the repeat of such accidents would be discussed and the recommendations would be submitted to parliament.
The fire broke out in the S11 coach of the train between 4.30 a.m. and 4.45 a.m. minutes after the Chennai-bound train passed through Nellore railway station in south coastal Andhra Pradesh, about 450 km from Hyderabad.
The cause of the fire, suspected to be an electric short-circuit, is being ascertained. Twenty-seven injured passengers are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Nellore.