"Culprits will face full force of law": Southern Railway on Madurai Train fire incident

Aug 26, 2023

Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 26 : Southern Railway on Saturday said that the culprits involved in the Madurai Train fire incident will face the 'full force of the law'. 
According to the official figures, Nine people were killed and eight were injured after a fire broke out in a tourist train parked on Lane near Madurai railway station.
Addressing the reporters, General Manager of Southern Railway, RN Singh said, "FIR has been lodged by the GRP under the IPC section and under the Railway Act section and the culprits will face the full force of the law. We are trying to do it (handing over the bodies) immediately after the postmortem today."
"Most of the relatives are around the Lucknow area so we will try to airlift the bodies to Lucknow and hand them over to their respective families," he added. 
Southern Railway has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of those who lost their lives in the train accident in Madurai.
The Southern Railway also announced Rs 2 lakh for grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for passengers with minor injuries.
On Saturday morning there was a fire in a ‘private party coach’ attached to the Punalur-Madurai Express and according to officials, the blaze was started after a gas cylinder, which was illegally used by the passengers inside the compartment exploded.
Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh for the kin of the deceased in the train accident. 
"Deeply saddened by the tragic incident near Madurai Railway junction where nine precious lives were lost in a train fire accident. My heartfelt condolences go out to the families of the deceased. To support the affected families, an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh will be provided," CM Stalin said.