At least 28 people were killed, many in their sleep, and 15 others badly burned and bruised when a blaze broke out on the Tamil Nadu Express near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh at around 4.20am on Monday.
The fire engulfed the sleeper coach as the train sped at 80km/hour. It spread devastatingly fast through the overcrowded S11 coach, giving the 72 reserved passengers and an unknown number of additional travellers in the bogie virtually no chance to escape.
The train had left New Delhi at 10.30pm on Saturday and was on its way to Chennai when tragedy struck.
Railway officials said the preliminary probe indicated that a short-circuit had sparked the fire. But railway minister Mukul Roy, speaking in Kolkata, said a gateman at the Vedayapalem level crossing had heard a loud sound before the blaze broke out, suggesting an act of sabotage. Some of the survivors echoed the gateman on the sound and blaze engulfing the coach soon after.
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