Nine tourists from Uttar Pradesh, including four women, were charred to death early on Saturday morning, after a fire broke out in their privately-booked railway coach, stabled near Madurai Railway junction. An initial probe indicated that a gas leak from an LPG cylinder, used to make tea inside the coach, had triggered the fire around 5:30 a.m, while many of the tourists were still asleep.
Eight people who were injured in the incident have been admitted to the Railway Hospital and Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai.
The deceased, ranging in age from 20-year-old Deepak Kashyap to 82-year-old Manorama Agarwal, were among a group of 55 tourists and eight support staff travelling together. According to Madurai Divisional Railway Manager P. Anant, a tour operator had booked the sleeper class coach, which left Lucknow on August 17, and had then been attached to different trains enroute to several tourist destinations. They were scheduled to visit Madurai’s famed Meenakshi temple on Saturday, and return home on August 29.
