The bodies of nine persons who were killed in the recent tragic accident that occurred in the Punalur-Madurai Express were airlifted to Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on Sunday.

According to sources, five bodies were sent through a direct flight and four were dispatched in another flight to Lucknow via Bengaluru.

The four Indigo flights which carried the mortal remains of the deceased are 6E 6311, 6E 2088, 6E 2789, 6E 7389 and 6E 6353.

It may be mentioned that, at least nine passengers travelling from Uttar Pradesh were tragically killed while over 20 persons sustained injuries after a fire broke out inside a stationary train compartment near the Madurai Railway Station on Saturday morning.

A “private party coach” was attached at Nagercoil Junction on August 25 by Train number 16730, the Punalur-Madurai Express, which began its journey from Lucknow on August 17 and had arrived at Madurai at 3.47 am today. The “party coach” was detached and kept at the Madurai Stabling line where the fire broke out at 5.15 am, a statement by Southern Railway stated on Saturday. 

According to the release by the Railways, “the passengers in the private party coach have illegally smuggled gas cylinder and this caused the fire. Many passengers had got out of the coach on noticing fire. Some passengers had got down at platform itself.”