20230828 Madurai train fire: Five UP residents held for unauthorized use of cooking gas cylinder
India Aug 28 2023 “Automobile & Railway”
Dead : dead 5 to 9 Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 1 to 9
Madurai train fire: Five UP residents held for unauthorized use of cooking gas cylinder
Updated: 2023-08-28
LUCKNOW: Two days after a fire caused by the unauthorized use of a cooking gas cylinder inside a train compartment at Madurai railway station in Tamil Nadu resulted in the deaths of nine people, five residents of Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur were arrested on Monday.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Shubham Kashyap (19), Narendra Kumar (61), Hardik Sahani (24), Deepak Kumar (23), and Satya Prakash (45).
The Madurai Government Railway Police (GRP), responsible for the arrests, have charged them under IPC Section 304 B (an act done with knowledge likely to cause death) and IPC Section 285 (Negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter). Following the arrests, the Madurai police informed the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government about the developments.
An official from the UP government, involved in coordination with the Madurai police, informed TOI that the five arrested individuals were workers at the Sitapur Bhasin Tour and Travels company.
A total of 63 individuals – 55 passengers and eight assistants – were on board the private coach that had departed from Lucknow on August 17. They were on a 13-day pilgrimage with plans to visit the renowned Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai and proceed to Rameswaram before returning to UP.
However, on August 26, some passengers resorted to using an illicit cooking gas cylinder in the coach.
The resulting flames rapidly engulfed the compartment, inciting panic and chaos among the occupants. Subsequently, firefighters arrived, extinguished the flames, and rescued the passengers, leading to the loss of nine lives.
Web Source: The Times of India