7 Falaknuma Express bogies catch fire in Telangana, all passengers safe: Officials

According to chief public relations officer of SC Railways Ch Rakesh, the fire broke out in three reserved bogies – S4, S5 and S6 of the Falaknuma Express (train no. 12703) and spread to other bogies between Bommaipally and Pagidipally around 11.30am

Passengers of Falaknuma Express coming from Howrah to Secunderabad had a miraculous escape on Friday afternoon when seven of its bogies caught fire near Bhongir in Telangana’s Yadadri-Bhongir district, South Central Railway (SC Railway) officials said, adding that the reason behind the fire was unknown.

Three bogies of the express were completely gutted in fire (Twitter/@ANI)

According to chief public relations officer of SC Railways Ch Rakesh, the fire broke out in three reserved bogies – S4, S5 and S6 of the Falaknuma Express (train no. 12703) and spread to other bogies between Bommaipally and Pagidipally around 11.30am.

“Some of the passengers alerted the ticket-checking staff, who immediately pulled the chain to alert the pilot. As the train stopped, all the passengers deboarded the train. There were no casualties,” Rakesh said.

He said while three bogies, S4, S5, and S6 were completely gutted, the adjacent bogies were partially damaged. The bogies which were affected by the fire were immediately delinked from the other bogies to prevent further spread of the fire, he added.

Telangana director general of police (DGP) Anjani Kumar said all the passengers were safely evacuated and shifted to buses to the destinations.

While the SC Railway authorities said only five bogies were damaged, the police said out of 18 coaches, seven bogies caught fire and the remaining 11 were detached and taken away safely.

SC Railway general manager Arun Kumar Jain, who immediately rushed to the accident spot, told reporters that an inquiry by the rail safety department had been ordered into the cause of the fire.

“So far, the cause of the fire has not been ascertained. We are examining whether there is any damage to the track and now focussing on restoring the track for restoring normal operations,” the SC Railway spokesman said.

The SC Railway set up a help desk at the Secunderabad railway station with helpline No. 04027786140, 86170, and 040 27801111 to assist the passengers to reach their destinations. “Most of the passengers lost their luggage and valuables in the fire mishap,” a police official of Bhongir said.

Yadadri-Bhongir collector Pamela Satpathi, who also visited the accident spot, made food and drinking water arrangements for passengers at the nearby residential school and later shifted them to Hyderabad in 12 buses.

Following the incident, the SC Railway announced the cancellation of two trains – Secunderabad-Repalle and Secunderabad-Manmad express trains – completely and two other trains – Thiruvananthapuram-Secunderabad and Repalle-Secunderabad express – partially, besides the diversion of four other trains.