35 killed as Tamil Nadu Express catches fire

July 30, 2012

train_on_fire

Chennai/Hyderabad, July 30: At least 35 passengers were killed and 25 injured when a coach of the Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh early Monday, officials said.

The fire broke out around 5.30 a.m. in the S-11 compartment, minutes after the Chennai-bound train left Nellore railway station in south coastal Andhra Pradesh, about 450 km from Hyderabad.

The death toll may go up as a total of 72 passengers were travelling in the second class reserved compartment. "More than 35 passengers are dead and 25 are injured. The injured have been admitted in hospitals," B. Rami Reddy, district revenue officer and additional district magistrate at Nellore, told IANS over phone.

While 15 passengers are believed to have jumped down from the burning compartment, there was no official word about others. A senior Southern Railway official told IANS in Chennai: "A train carrying the relatives of those travelling in the S-11 coach of the Tamil Nadu Express will leave Chennai Central at 9.30 a.m. The train will bring back the affected the 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. Senior railway officials from Chennai are rushing to Nellore. Nellore district collector B. Sreedhar is overseeing the rescue operations.

A witness told reporters that many were trapped inside when the flames engulfed the compartment. "I was lucky to come out but many passengers could not escape as two doors were jammed and the smoke spread fast," said Sudhir.

Fire fighting personnel extinguished the fire and rescue workers were using gas cutters and other equipment to retrieve the bodies. Ambulances were pressed into service to shift the injured to hospital.

The district collector said the burning bogie was detached to prevent the fire from spreading to other compartments. He quoted some witnesses as saying that the fire was caused by short circuit near the toilet.

As the train was not moving at full speed, some passengers either entered the adjoining compartment or jumped down. However, those sleeping on the upper berths could not escape as the smoke spread fast leaving the doors jammed.

Some trains bound for Chennai were delayed.


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News Network
April 5,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 5: Eight more COVID-19 positive cases were reported from Kerala on Sunday, four among whom attended the Tablighi Jamat congregation in Delhi and six people were cured, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

With this, the total number of affected people under treatment in the state has gone up to 256, she said.

"Out of the eight cases, five are from Kozhikode, and one each from Pathanamthitta, Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

In the case of Kozhikode, four out of the five returned from Nizammuddin meet and one from Dubai.

As of date, 10 people who had returned from Nizammuddin in Delhi have been tested positive," the minister said in a release

A total of 314 cases have been reported from Kerala so far and 56 people have been cured, she said

"We have sent 10,221 samples for testing," she said.

A total of 1.58 lakh people are under observation in the state, out of which 776 are in isolation wards in hospitals.

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News Network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, Jun 16: With an increase of 10,667 cases and 380 deaths in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India has reached 3,43,091 on Tuesday, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

It is noteworthy that today's spike in cases is lower than the 11,502 registered in the country yesterday and has also stayed below the 11 thousand mark it had been crossing for the past two days in a row.

However, there is an increase in the number of deaths due to the infection from yesterday, with 380 deaths being reported from across the country, the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,900.

The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,178 active cases, while 1,80,013 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far.

Maharashtra with 1,10,744 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 50,567 active cases while 56,049 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 has crossed the four thousand mark and reached 4,128 in the state.
It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 46,504 and the national capital with 42,829 confirmed cases.

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News Network
April 11,2020

New Delhi, Apr 11: Calling upon chief ministers to popularise Aarogya Setu app, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it will an essential tool in India's fight against coronavirus and referred to the possibility of the app being an "e-pass which could subsequently facilitate travel from one place to other".

Interacting with chief ministers through video conference, the Prime Minister mentioned how South Korea and Singapore had got success in contact tracing and said India has made its own effort through the app amid efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus.

A PMO release said that the Prime Minister spoke about popularizing the Aarogya Setu app to ensure downloads in greater numbers.

"He referred to how South Korea and Singapore got success in contact tracing. Based on those experiences, India has made its own effort through the app which will be an essential tool in India's fight against the pandemic, he said. He also referred to the possibility of the app being an e-pass which could subsequently facilitate travel from one place to another," the release said.

The Prime Minister had earlier this week urged people to download the app saying it is an important step in the fight against COVID-19 and its effectiveness will increase as more people use it.

"Aarogya Setu is an important step in our fight against COVID-19. By leveraging technology, it provides important information. As more and more people use it, it's effectiveness will increase. I urge you all to download it," he had said in a tweet.

The app launched earlier this month in public-private partnership enables people to themselves assess the risk for their catching the coronavirus infection.

The app makes its calculations based on a person's interaction with others, using Bluetooth technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence.

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