KOZHIKODE: Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express (16307) was full of passengers when it commenced its journey around 2:05 pm on Sunday. Farouk railway station was reached at 8.45. It was from here that Rahmat, her sister's daughter, Sahara Bathul (2), and a neighbor, Rasiq, boarded. The train arrived at Kozhikode railway station at 9:07 pm. Naufiq, a native of Mattanur, boarded from there. There were only a few passengers after Kozhikode. The train continued its journey from Kozhikode station at 09:11 hrs with passengers who were planning to get off at stations from Koilandi to Kannur. At around 09:27 pm, after passing Elathur station, the assailant came to the D1 coach with a bottle filled with petrol, poured it on the passengers, and set them on fire.

The fire spread to the bodies of the passengers and inside the train. Panicked passengers dashed away. Someone immediately pulled the alarm chain and the train stopped in the middle of Korapuzha bridge. There was a delay in evacuating the injured due to this. They were taken out of the train through other coaches.

It all happened all of a sudden: Ratheesh, a native of Kannur

'A person came from the door side and poured petrol on everyone in the compartment. Sensing the danger, I immediately ran to the corridor,' said Ratheesh, a native of Kannur, with unrelenting trepidation.

He was traveling to Kannur with six friends. A perfectly peaceful trip suddenly turned into a disaster. He remembers those moments with horror. 'After passing Kozhikode, the train was less crowded. I remember that the suspect in a red-striped shirt was standing near the door. He had two bottles of petrol in his hand. He opened a bottle and doused the people in the coach. I pushed him away and ran out. Petrol had fallen on me while I was running. My hair caught fire but I extinguished it quickly.' Ratheesh says that he did not see the assailant arguing with anyone or saying anything.

What Ajay said

'I saw only the fire burning. It also seemed that someone came and swung the bottle he was holding at us. I didn't see anything else. When the train was on fire, I ran to the door to escape from the train and saw a mother, child, and another person jumping out of the door.' Ajay, who was a train passenger, said, 'The train was very fast and I couldn't jump since there was water underneath. I was hanging on to the bar near the door. The train stopped by then.'

Ruby from Taliparamba

'At first, I thought it was the train that had caught fire. Then everyone in the compartment started screaming and running around. I ran with them not knowing what was going on. That's when my hand caught fire.' - said Ruby, a resident of Taliparamba. 'It was a minor burn. Petrol did not fall on my body. After helping others out, I ran through the bogies and escaped through the front bogie.'