A South Central Railway spokesman P Krishnaiah said the death toll in one of the worst train disasters in the state stood at 113 now. Sunday, the railway authorities had called off the search and rescue operations at the spot, after Army personnel, Navy divers, fire service personnel and Rapid Action Force and Greyhounds commandos scoured the area and the submerged bogies and confirmed that there were no more bodies to be extricated.

Railways, government agencies blame each other

The railway authorities deployed 350 workmen to clear the accident site. They pressed eight poclains, three bulldozers and a 140-tonne breakdown crane into service to lift the dangling coaches. Using acetylene cutters and hacksaws, they dismantled the mangled coaches and the cranes lifted the debris.

Meanwhile, the bodies of most of the victims were identified and handed over to their relatives at the Osmania General Hospital mortuary in Hyderabad, and the mortuaries of government hospitals at Guntur and Nalgonda.

The Railways announced ex-gratia of Rs one lakh each to the families of dead passengers. Railway officials have been deputed to go to the houses of the deceased to make the payment.

Of the 93 injured passengers, 17 suffered grievous injuries and were undergoing treatment at the Railway Hospital at Lalaguda and the government hospitals at Guntur and Nalgonda.