Forensic team begins probe into fire in Tamil Nadu Exp bogie

A member of the team said they were examining some burnt parts collected from the coach and would submit a report within a week.

When asked whether the mishap was due to a blast or short-circuit, he said, "We have collected some samples from inside the bogie. We cannot come to a conclusion or form any opinion until completion of the examination."

"A preliminary probe is underway to find out as to how the fire started and how it spread. At this moment, we cannot give any opinion," he said.

An injured passenger, Madanlal, undergoing treatment here, claimed that he woke up after hearing a loud noise in the coach and that there were at least two more such thuds.

Raising his suspicion that the fire might not have been due to short-circuit, he said that had it been a short-circuit, there would not have been such a deafening sound.

"It was a very lond sound just like after a blast. While getting down, I heard it at least 2-3 times," he told reporters today.

Meanwhile, authorities here handed over 14 bodies to their kin after identification while efforts were underway to embalm the remaining bodies at the mortuary of the Government Hospital in Nellore.

Nellore district Collector B Sridhar told PTI that so far they had handed over 14 bodies to the relatives of the deceased.

"The identification (of bodies) process was going on," he said.

The authorities here did not rule out carrying out DNA tests on the unidentified bodies that were charred beyond recognition.

Thirty-two passengers were charred to death and 25 others injured when a fire broke out in S-11 coach of the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express in the wee hours yesterday.