E-Paper
Major fire in slum affects rail services in Kolkata
A major fire broke out at a slum near Bidhannagar Road station in Kolkata, affecting train services in the Sealdah north section of Eastern Railway.
A major fire broke out at a slum near Bidhannagar Road station in Kolkata, affecting train services in the Sealdah north section of Eastern Railway.
Twenty fire tenders went to the spot to contain the fire which broke out at 10:45 pm and was finally brought under control at around 12:20 am, West Bengal fire services Director Gopal Bhattacharjee said.
Several shanties were gutted in the blaze, he said, adding smoke still billowed from the debris. But there was so far no report of any casualty.
The leaping flames at one time forced railway authorities to snap the power on overhead line leading to halting of local train services in the UP and Down lines of Sealdah division's North section for some time.
An ER spokesman said three local trains - two up and one down - were detained outside the Bidhannagar station as the power connection was snapped.
The services subsequently resumed as the blaze was contained and power connection restored to the overhead wire.
Local people assaulted fire brigade personnel as they reached the spot complaining about delay in arrival, but the fire services official said the charge was not correct.
At one point of time people were seen running away in panic along the rail tracks as the fire raged on in the slum while the station area was engulfed in darkness with the power connection snapped.
The cause of the fire was still being ascertained.
