Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Southern Circle, Bengaluru, A.M. Chowdhary on Sunday began a probe into the fire accident in a coach near Madurai Railway junction that killed nine persons from Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
He would submit his report within a month.
He began the statutory inquiry by questioning the injured persons, who were admitted to the Railway Hospital. The inquiry began early in the morning on the hospital premises as the tourists were slated to catch an afternoon flight from Madurai to go back home.
Also read | Negligence by railway officials blamed for fatal fire accident in Madurai
Tamil Nadu Railway Police officers produced two of the support staff of the tour operator, who went missing on Saturday, before the CRS. Their deposition gains significance as initial probe revealed that the fire was caused by the cooking gas cylinder when some of the support staff tried to make tea for the tourists. The tourists and railway officials claimed that the doors of the coach, parked in the stabling line, were locked using padlocks for security reasons and, hence, they could not come out until they were broken. Mr. Chowdhary questioned the Fire and Rescue personnel from Madurai, railway security personnel from Railway Protection Force and Tamil Nadu Railway Police.
Coach inspected
He also inspected the fire-ravaged coach in the presence of senior railway officials, including Principal Chief Safety Officer, Southern Railway, Somesh Kumar and Divisional Railway Manager P. Ananth. The inquiry would continue on Monday.
Meanwhile, the tourists, who were provided accommodation at a private hotel on Saturday, were flown back home. Along with those admitted to hospitals, they were flown by two different flights from Madurai via New Delhi and Bengaluru on Sunday.
Mortal remains of nine tourists, after post-mortem and embalming, were taken to Chennai by road on Saturday night and flown to Lucknow by a special flight.
