The scene at the Mumbai Central station was a complete contrast to the chaos at Delhi and Ludhiana stations on Thursday morning.
Almost six hours after television channels and newswires flashed the news of the fire on the Frontier Mail, that claimed 38 lives, the Western Railway help desk at Mumbai Central was calm and quiet. Senior railway officials manning the desk had not received many calls on the six helpline numbers flashed on all major television channels. The small crowd around the desk comprised mostly journalists, railway officials and curious onlookers.
"Most of the passengers who boarded the train at Mumbai Central got down at New Delhi," said Additional Divisional Manager, Western Railway, Shailendra Tripathi. "We have been checking with the injured passengers, none of them are from Mumbai."
Tripathi, however, added that there were 13 passengers from Mumbai in Coach S-5, one of three coaches that caught fire near Ludhiana at aroun 6 am. "We have announced the names of these 13 people but no one has come forward to know about their wellbeing. So we are assuming that they are safe and sound and have contacted their families," he said.
Asked if there was any chance that among the 38 people killed could be anyone from these 13 people, Tripathi said: "I don't think so because coach S-4 was the worst damaged not S-5."