The extreme heatwave sweeping across the country claimed lives of four passengers of Kerala Express on Monday evening. The victims, part of a pilgrim team from Kerala, were travelling from Agra to Coimbatore in non-AC coaches of the train.
Giving details about the incident, North Central Railway (Jhansi division) PRO Manoj Kumar Singh said the exact cause of death of the passengers would be determined after the post-mortem.
“The deceased were on a religious tour and they had reached Agra from Varanasi from where they were to travel to Coimbatore. The four, including two women, were seated in S-8 and S-9 coaches, which are non-AC,” he said.
The PRO said as per reports the victims had complained of uneasiness on Monday evening and by the time the train reached Jhansi (by 7 pm on Monday), three of them had died. Another passenger, who was found unconscious in the train, succumbed in hospital.
The deceased were identified as Pachayya (80), Balakrishnan (67), Dhanalakshmi (74), and Subbaraiyya (71),” he said.
The PRO said the bodies were being sent to Coimbatore in a special luggage van. Reports said the deceased were part of a team of 68 pilgrims from Kerala and were homebound after visiting several religious places in north India.