S11 Syndrome For Train Passengers

After last Monday, any train passenger in India traveling by S 11 coach is sure to feel a pinch of pessimism, before boarding the train. Well the main reason is the ghastly accident that occurred on Monday Morning in the Tamil Nadu Express bound to Chennai, in the sleeper coach with the same number. Taking a leaf of my own experience shows the real feelings in a personal event. Actually my Mother and family were planning to Shirdi since some time and we planned it for Tuesday (31 July 2012).

We were a group of twenty members family traveling. A few of us were allotted in S 13 while a few got it in S 11 coach. The dreaded coach figured in our tickets. Unfortunately I could not make it as my boss did not grant me permission. And my tension started mounting as some of my family members had boarded the S 11 coach. Another point was that I was not traveling with them either. Inspite of giving them adequate and repeated instructions, I was restless the whole night. I regained my lost control only after receiving a wake-up call from my mother that they alighted at Nagarsol Station by 6 am on time and by God's grace, intact.

Well many may be wondering why I was tensed to that extent about the S 11 coach syndrome! To get a clearer view on that one should get to know the details of the ill fated train at Nellore station in Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu express was traveling from New Delhi to Chennai, on Monday, as usual cruising at a speed of 110 kmph while passing through the Nellore station. As the train did not have a scheduled halt at the station, it was moving along in top speeds. Just then an alert Deputy Station Master noticed fire in the train. Immediately he informed the authorities and rescue operations were in place, on a war-footing.


However the fire in the coach had razed the compartment to ashes with in fifteen minutes. The accident had claimed thirty or more lives and left several injured. In total the coach had 72 reserved passengers and some more unreserved occupants at the time of the accident. As per sources the accident occurred due to a short circuit near one of its toilets, at around 4.30 am in the morning. Practically in the next two hours the train was to reach its destination, Chennai, but fate had decided otherwise for the ill-fated passengers.


Due to the monsoon low temperatures most of the windows in the coach were shut and this aggravated the death toll. Most passengers were in deep sleep, due in the odd hours of dawn. As the fumes started engulfing most of them became unconscious and died in an intoxicated state. The rest made a mad rush to get out of the coach, but the stampede had resulted in several getting injured. The main reasons for the mad rush was the whole train was dark with fumes and three of the four doors were jammed.


Rescue teams rushed on-time and cut open the coach from the front vestibule connection to rescue the survivors. It was a sad end to many passengers who died in the train. Most of the charred bodies were beyond recognition. Pathetic situation that prevailed in the chaos, inside the S 11 coach, as one survivor recalled, 'everything happened with in few minutes'. AarKay.