Hyderabad: Seven of the deceased passengers of the ill-fated Bangalore Express, which derailed early on December 21 have been identified, South Central Railway (SCR) sources said.

The deceased are A Venkatnarayana (55) Hyderabad, K Ramanugulu (55) Anantapur district, Uma Devi (32) New Delhi, Mahaboob Basha (45) Anantapur district, Devadasu (30) Kurnool, K Sajan Raj (51) Bangalore and D Thimappa Naidu Anantapur district.

Authorities had a tough time establishing the identity of the victims as they were travelling in an unreserved bogie, which was one of the nine derailed coaches. Efforts were on to identify the remaining bodies, sources said.

Kurnool district additional superintendent of police (ASP) K Prabhakar Rao said over phone that 18 bodies, three of them of women passengers, were extricated from the derailed bogies and another injured passenger succumbed to injuries at Gooty hospital.

However, eyewitnesses put the toll as 20.

A report from Bangalore quoting railway spokesman said earlier that Mohankumar was wrongly identified as one of the deceased during rescue operation and now it has been confirmed that he is alive and has contacted his family.

PTI