Madurai train fire: Tour agent booked for illegal carriage of gas cylinder

A criminal case has been registered against a tour operator by the Government Railway Police (GRP) for alleged illegal carriage of cooking gas cylinder in connection with the Madurai train fire that left 9 persons dead.

"With respect to 'illegal smuggling' of cooking gas cylinder in the tourist coach by the tour operator, a criminal case has been registered by GRP under various sections of IPC and Railways Act," a Southern Railway release said.

Southern Railway in association with IRCTC shall also make air travel arrangements for the return of surviving passengers to Lucknow, it said.

"Southern Railway has made arrangements for transport of bodies of the deceased by air to Lucknow by duly following all the necessary medical and legal formalities," it added.

At least nine pilgrims bound for Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu met with a tragic end on Saturday when a fire broke out inside a stationary train compartment at the railway station here in the small hours of Saturday.

The victims embarked on the pilgrimage from Lucknow last week in a private party coach, and most of them hailed from the Uttar Pradesh capital and its nearby areas.