For the families of those who died in a fire that gutted coach S11 of the Tamil Nadu Express early on Monday morning, all of Tuesday, was an ordeal. Identifying bodies that had been charred beyond recognition based solely on the victims’ features, was both difficult and agonising.
Twelve bodies are yet to be identified, with relatives of those missing anxiously waiting for confirmation at the mortuary of the DSR District Headquarters Hospital in Nellore.
Ram Singh, came down from Delhi, on hearing about the accident. His cousin, Jaswanth Singh, 18, a resident of Melout in Punjab, who was on the train, is missing. Jaswanth’s university friends Sandeep Agnihotri, Sukhdev Singh and Amarpreeth Singh have suffered burns. Two of them are Narayana Hospital with serious burns. V.S. Siddhi, a resident of Vijayawada, came in search of his missing son V.S. Mommat Mohiddin, 40, who boarded the train at Vijayawada. Based on features provided by him, officials confirmed Mohiddin’s death and handed over his body in the afternoon. Mohiddin was a trader in gems and had been to Chennai on a business trip.
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Police said 15 people are still undergoing treatment in various city hospitals, while 13 others have been discharged. Nine of the injured are at Narayana Hospital, two at Jaya Bharath Hospital and four at Bollineni Hospital.