The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, May 16, 2003, Chandigarh, India

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Couple thanks Almighty for providential escape
Varinder Walia and Rashmi Talwar
Tribune News Service

Surjit Singh with his newly wedded wife Manmeet Kaur from Meerut who survived the train fire.

Mehtab Singh, who was injured in the fire incident, was travelling in coach S4, in which the fire started. His wife Paramjit Kaur, who suffered from congestion, is sitting next to him. They had come for a visit to the Golden Temple.
— Tribune photographs

Amritsar, May 15
After surviving the terrible fire that engulfed the Frontier Express in the early hours of today, newly-wedded couple Surjeet Singh and Manmeet Kaur along with their family members went to the Golden temple to thank The Almighty for their providential escape and sought blessings for their newly wedded life on the holy occasion of ‘Sangrand’.

The Meerut-based family, including mother Janak Kaur, father Gurbaksh Singh, elder brother Avtar Singh and little Amandeep, all escaped the dreadful fire even as they lost their luggage, footwear and other items. Meanwhile, the pall of gloom descended on the house of one Asha Rani a 55-year-old woman from the city who reportedly succumbed to her injuries in CMC, Ludhiana. She was travelling with her husband Joginder Pal who said that since his wife was over-weight and suffered from high blood pressure she was unable to make her way out of the train even as vigorous flames engulfed her. Talking to The Tribune from CMC, Ludhiana, Mr Yogesh, the deceased’s relative, said only the lower portion of Mrs Asha was recovered and was identified with great difficulty by a close relative.

Many of those who came on the Frontier Express here told tales of terror as people were caught in the flames.

Mr Mehtab Singh sustained minor injury, Mrs Parmjit Kaur suffered from suffocation. They were accompanied by their daughter Arvinder Kaur in coach S-4. The family too had come to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple on the special occasion. Mr K.L. Grover along with wife Neetu Grover were travelling with their four minor children in compartment S-3 when they rushed out leaving behind part of their luggage. Rama Sharma, also travelling with minor children in bogey S-5, saw fire engulfing passengers and paint pealing off from windows. Ramnik Arora complained of the train having not a single fire extinguisher, which could have helped save lives. Tirath Ram, driver of the ill-fated train, while talking to The Tribune said in the last 42 years of his service he had not witnessed a single rail mishap. Describing the scene, he said he heard the pressure alarm train bell (PATB) and looked back to see fire engulfing some compartments. As he stopped the train he rushed his assistant Ramesh Kumar to “detach the coupling” of the affected compartments that were afire. “It was a difficult task as the metal had heated up”, said Ramesh but it helped the fire from spreading to other compartments.

Meanwhile three sets of walkie talkies were provide by the chief telecom engineer for prompt communication to the railway station staff, said Mr Arvind Gupta, Deputy Station Superintendent, and Mr A.S. Mastan, Railway Traffic Inspector.

Till last reports Mr Daulat Ram, station superintendent, reported that two trains namely Duplicate Howrah and Haridwar Passenger had not arrived and were delayed by more than 12 hours each. Chhatisgarh Express arrived two hours late and would depart about two hours from its actual departure time. While Flying Mail was more than 10 hours late, Howrah Express arrived seven hours late. Shatabdi Express however faced just a minor delay in departure and arrival.

According to reports about 375 passengers arrived in 12 coaches in the train here today followed by a special train which carried a few passengers from Ludhiana onwards. A breakup of passengers bound for stations beyond Ludhiana reveals maximum passenger rush for Amritsar. Out of 75 passengers in the ill-fated coach, S-4 where the fire started, 54 passengers were bound for Amritsar. In coach S-3 out of 67 passengers, 40 were for Amritsar and in S-5 coach out of 30 total passengers, seven were to disembark in the holy city here.

Miraculous escape for many train passengers
Deepkamal Kaur

Ludhiana, May 15
Fate could not have been kinder to the dozen odd passengers who disembarked from the Golden Temple Mail, just minutes before the three coaches of the train burst into flames claiming many lives. To describe this as a miracle would be an understatement, feel many of the lucky survivors who spoke to Ludhiana Tribune. Some of them, including many who survived despite being on the train see their survival as an act of their guardian angels protecting them.

“I very clearly see a hand that separated us from those who were not so lucky” says Mr Hira Lal, who arrived here from Delhi in connection with his business. “After the train left, I was still at the railway station, waiting for day break so that I could go to my clients. But before this could happen, I heard about the terrible accident around 5 a.m.”. Shattered by the thought that he could be on the train, Mr Lal has decided to return to Delhi.

Among those travelling from New Delhi to Ludhiana included Mr G.R. Shankar, Mr Ranjit, Mr G. Singh and Mr P. Singh, all had a berth in coach S3 coach. While Mr I. Singh had a berth in coach S4 that bore the brunt, another survivor Mr P.V. Suresh Sharma travelled in coach S1 from Delhi.

Confirming their dismemberment at Ludhiana, Mr Subhash Chandra, Chief Reservation Officer at the railway station, said while all the passengers had got their tickets booked in advance, there must be at least 25 others who would have got down from the train at Ludhiana, but were travelling without reservation and hence their names do not figure in the reservation chart.

Mr Saifee, a businessman from Dahod in Gujarat, who was travelling for Amritsar in coach S5 along with 11 others that included two of his friends and their families, while narrating the dreadful experience said, “We were all sleeping, when all of a sudden we heard people shouting. As I got up, there was fire all around”. He said the fire spread very fast and he was still unable to believe that he had survived the tragedy. He added that but for helpful fellow passengers, he and his friends might not have been able to come out of the burning coach.

Mr Saifee said since children were having vacation, they had planned a holiday trip to Amritsar and then to Kulu, Manali and Mussorie. He said he was thankful to the Almighty for saving his family and companions. Losing 10 out of the 11 baggages, including Rs 80,000 cash, they all were taking for the trip was of no worry for him, he said. Left with hardly any money or excitement for the planned trip, he said his immediate concern was to go back home safely.

Claiming to be the first person to notice the fire break out from the ceiling of the train, Ms Manju Sharma, a resident of Jalandhar, travelling alone from Mumbai, said a majority of the fellow passengers in S4 coach were sleeping during those early hours. She said she saw sparks of fire from the ceiling of the train and shouted ‘’Fire! fire!’’ Still in their sleep and unable to realise as to what had happened, they remained there while she came out, only to see her fellow passengers burning.

Ms Sharma said those trying to save themselves started running towards the exit from one side, but there were too many bags acting as hurdles. A majority of the passengers in her bogey were those who were going to Beas to attend the Radha Soami satsang.

Mr Paramjit, another passenger travelling to Amritsar, said he had just come out of the toilet when two men threw him out of the train. Falling into the fields, he realised that the men were simply rescuing him out of the ‘’burning train’’.

Also travelling in the same ill-fated train were Ms Nirmala Mahajan, Ms Pushpa Devi, Ms Kanta Gupta, all sisters, and Mr Sardari Lal Gupta, Ms Kanta Gupta’s husband, coming from Meerut to Jalandhar for attending a funeral there today. Mr Gupta said it was sheer chance that he could not get the tickets booked and was travelling in the last bogey. He said a man from their bogey was hanging out of the door when he saw fire in a few coaches ahead. The man started shouting “Fire! fire!” and all passengers in the bogey jumped out in panic, but soon realised that they were well behind the burning bogeys.

Railway officials say there were at least 20 persons who were travelling to Jalandhar, Beas or Amritsar from Ludhiana and were seated in the three coaches that were charred in the fire tragedy. As all these people also miraculously survived, they were safely brought back to Ludhiana.