35 Burnt Alive In Tamil Nadu Express Blaze

He quoted some witnesses as saying that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit near the toilet.

The injured were admitted to various government and private hospitals in Nellore town.

"There may be 30 bodies lying in the coach. It is horrific," added Congress legislator Anam Vivekananda Reddy after visiting the accident site.

A witness told reporters that many were trapped inside when the flames engulfed the bogie.

"I was lucky to come out but many passengers could not escape as two doors were jammed and the smoke spread fast," said Sudhir.

Barring the gutted coach and three other bogies, the train reached its destination Chennai, 155 km from Nellore, a few hours later.

A special train from Chennai carrying the relatives of those travelling in the ill-fated coach was also sent to Nellore.

A senior Southern Railway official told IANS in Chennai: "The train will bring back the affected passengers from Nellore."

The list of passengers travelling in the S-11 coach of Tamil Nadu Express has been pasted at the Chennai Central station, added the official.

Train 12622 had left New Delhi 10.30 p.m. Saturday and was scheduled to reach Chennai at 7.15 a.m. Monday.

The long distance train covers 2,181 km and passes through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh before entering Tamil Nadu.

According to railway officials, the passengers of the ill-fated bogie had boarded at Delhi, Agra, Jhansi, Warangal and Vijayawada.

The railways have announced 5 lakh ex-gratia to the families of each of those killed and 1 lakh to the critically injured.