The shaken survivors of the ill-fated Tamil Nadu Express reached Chennai on Monday afternoon. They charged rescue personnel in Nellore with laxity, saying it was a major factor in the high death toll. Passengers arriving at Chennai Central said that the response of the Nellore administration to the fire had been “extremely poor”.
According to them, the fire was detected by travellers around 4.30 am. The train stopped minutes after it left Nellore station, they said, indicating that the blaze had been visible while the train was at the station. In fact, passengers were told that the train was brought to a halt after the driver was alerted by officials at the station.
Once the passengers stepped out of the train, fire and rescue services were called. But, the first rescue engine arrived a full 30 minutes later. “When I dialled the emergency number, the time was 4.30 am. When the police and fire engines reached it was close to 5.15 am. We were enraged by this delay as we were witnessing people being burned in the S11 coach,” said Selvamani, of Chennai.
Some passengers charged that the authorities completely failed to grasp the seriousness of the situation. “There were hardly four policemen standing and watching even while passengers were scampering around to check forwater sources to douse the fire,” recalled one woman passenger, who was travelling with two of her children from New Delhi.
No Patrolling Inside the Train: Passengers
Some passengers also accused guards inside the train of failing in their patrol duty. According to them, every train has a few security personnel whose job is to constantly patrol the coaches. This is done, they said, to stop anti-social elements from getting into the train and help passengers in case of emergencies.
However, through the journey, several passengers said not a single guard patrolled the coaches. “There was only the TTR who checked the coaches after every major station,” recalled Rashi, who traveled in S7 coach.
Passengers said that had security guards been vigilant, there was every chance that the toll would have been less.
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