Title - Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu express catches fire: 30 passengers charred to death

NELLORE: At least 30 passengers were charred to death and 25 others injured when a fire broke in a coach of the Chennai-bound Tamil Nadu Express near here in the wee hours of Monday due to a short circuit. Twenty-six passengers were rescued from the coach S 11 which was completely gutted, Nellore collector Sridhar said.As the train was passing through Nellore, which is about 150 kms from Chennai, some people noticed the fire and informed railway authorities. "There was a short circuit near the toilet and the train was moving at a speed of 110 kms per hour. It was going to Chennai from Delhi. All the passengers were asleep when the fire broke out at 4.30am. People were not able to come out immediately," he said."The fire spread fast and the passengers could not come out through one of the doors because of the fire. So the other edge of the coach was to be used. Some people could come out and others succumbed to death," he said.The bodies have been charred so it is difficult to identify them, Sridhar said.The injured have been admitted to three hospitals including Nellore Government Hospital, People's polyclinic and Jayabarathi Hospital in Nellore.A list put out by the Southern Railway showed those admitted to Government Hospital Nellore include Rekha (S11-5), Veena (S11-63), Sambasivarao, Varma Sirish, Venkata Kotishwara Rao, Verma, Hussain, Raghavan, KK Sunil Kumar, Harshed, Sandeep Agnihotri and Amir Preth Singh.

Those admitted to People's Polyclinic are Vijaykumar and Krushi.

Six more people have been taken to Jayabarathi Hospital in Nellore. Railways have identified them as Sarala, KK Banzarlal, Udaya Baskar, AR Srinivasalu, Prakash Singh and Shoba Singh.

Doctors at Nellore Hospital can be contacted at 0861-2330024, 2328500.

The contact numbers for People's Polyclinic are 0861-2347704, 2309662.