Last rites of Madurai train fire victims performed in Sitapur, Hardoi; well-wishers bid adieu

Grief-stricken family members and friends Monday performed the last rites of five persons from Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur and Hardoi districts who died in the Madurai train fire tragedy.

Nine people were killed and eight more injured when a fire broke out inside a stationary train compartment at the Madurai railway station on August 26.

The deceased, bound for Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, had last week embarked from Lucknow on the pilgrimage with several others in a private party coach booked by their tour operator, it added.

On Sunday, their bodies arrived from Chennai at the Chowdhury Charan Singh airport in Lucknow on two separate flights.

Minister of State (Prisons) Suresh Rahi and MoS (Urban Development) Rakesh Rathore were present at the crematorium in Sitapur where the last rites of four deceased were performed on Monday and extended condolences to the bereaved families.

The bodies of five deceased who hailed from Sitapur -- Mithilesh Singh (52), Shatru Daman Singh (65), Harish Bhasin (60), Ankul Kashyap (32) and Deepak Kashyap (20) -- were sent to their hometown from the state capital by ambulances under the supervision of police and district authorities, officials said.

Bhasin was the tour operator and owner of Bhasin Tours, while Kashyap was one of his staff members.

As Bhasin's body was being taken for cremation, his wife fainted and had to be given medical help, Tiwari added.

Similar was the situation at the house of Kashyap, with his wife crying aloud and asking how she would survive with two kids without her husband's help who was the family's sole breadwinner.

Mithilesh and Shatru Daman were relatives and resided in the same locality in Sitapur.

Shatrudaman's brother Lalla Singh said he was very popular among his relatives and friends. People who had gathered at his house broke down once his body arrived.

A similar scenario transpired at Mithilesh's house where family members faced a tough time controlling his daughter as the body was taken out for last rites, a family member said.

Rajesh Tiwari, a long-time friend of Bhasin, the tour operator, recalled him as a 'religious and pious' man.

'Bhasin was dedicated towards social service and used to take thousands of people on religious trips, Tiwari said, adding that he could not believe that his friend met with this tragic end.

The Sitapur administration transported the dead to the crematorium, where the bodies of Shatrudaman and Mithilesh arrived first at Sitapur's Gopal Ghat crematorium, followed by the bodies of Bhasin and Kashyap.

Well-wishers of the deceased gathered at the crematorium to pay respects. Some were also heard discussing plans to embark on a pilgrimage organised by Bhasin Tours in the near future.

One of the deceased, Deepak Kashyap of Sitapur's Kanshiram locality, was cremated on Sunday, officials said.

In neighbouring Hardoi, the last rites of Parmeshwar Dayal Gupta, a resident of Chandi Purva, were performed on Monday at the Shravan Devi cremation ground.

Apart from the five persons from Sitapur and one from Hardoi, a duo from Lucknow --Manoharman Agarwal (81) and her granddaughter Himani Bansal (22), and Shanti Devi (67) from Lakhimpur Kheri also lost their lives in the tragedy, officials said.

Shanti Devi's cremation was performed at her native village Kothia in the Sharda Nagar area and the Lucknow duo was cremated at the Gulala Ghat on Sunday.