E-Paper
Two trains catch minor fire in UP; no casualty
One of the coaches of the Ganga Sutlej Express, which connects Dhanbad and Firozpur, reportedly caught fire in Lucknow.
Lucknow/Prayagraj: Days after the Balasore train tragedy, two instances of fire mishaps in trains were reported in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, officials said. In a major relief, no casualty was reported in either of the accidents, they added.
In one of the instances, one of the coaches of the Ganga Sutlej Express, which connects Dhanbad and Firozpur, reportedly caught fire in Lucknow. All 72 passengers on board the train’s S-4 (sleeper) coach deboarded the train before the fire could spread.
“The fire started due to friction as a foreign object got stuck in the wheel area of the S-4 coach,” said Shivdaras Prasad Sinha, fire officer-Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. “Even after the fire was put out, passengers were not ready to board the train for some time,” the official added.
However, a stampede-like situation was created as the passengers hurried to deboard the train.
“Three fire tenders and adequate fire service personnel were pressed into service. On reaching the spot within a short span of time, it was observed that the fire in coach S-4 was coming from under the train,” Sinha added.
In another incident, panic gripped passengers on board the 12987 Sialdah-Ajmer Express as they noticed smoke coming out of a general compartment of the moving train near the Bharwari railway station of Kaushambi district. A short circuit in a switch board was initially suspected to have caused the fire.
Alert passengers immediately pulled the chain to stop it and jumped out of the train.
However, a safety team in the train and other railway staff immediately brought the minor fire under control.
The mishap caused a delay as the train was halted for around 40 minutes near the railway station where it was thoroughly checked by different safety teams.
The train was again halted for checking by railway teams at Fatehpur and again at Kanpur railway stations.
Later, railway officials ruled out the possibility of a short circuit to have caused the fire even as they continued with their investigation.
North Central Railway chief public relations officer Himansh Shekhar Upadhyay said the train was checked thrice after receiving information of smoke in a compartment. The train resumed its journey after everything was found to be normal, he added.
