Overview
- Police confirm at least 20 fatalities and 16 critical injuries, with one report raising the toll to 21 as an eight-year-old succumbed in Jodhpur.
- Preliminary probe points to an electrical failure in the AC system, with officials also citing a jammed or auto-locked door that trapped passengers.
- The sleeper coach was newly registered on October 1 and reportedly converted to AC but listed as non-AC, with no emergency exit or window hammers noted in the initial findings.
- Forensic and DNA teams are identifying charred remains, while hospitals in Jaisalmer and Jodhpur treat severe burn victims transferred via a green corridor.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced ex-gratia payments of ₹2 lakh for the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured, as Army personnel and locals led early rescue efforts.