BeyondHeadlines News Desk
Mumbai: Three coaches of the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani train caught fire in the wee hours today in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratlam District. All passengers of the train are safe. At around 2.00 a.m. three coaches, including the pantry car, caught fire between Bikramgarh Alot and Phuria stations in Kota division, a Western Railway official said.
Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot and the blaze has been brought under control. The couplings of the coaches were detached immediately by the railway staff to stop the spread of fire, he said.
The official said that the fire is believed to have started in the pantry car at around 3 a.m. today near Thuriya station in Ratlam, some 200 km from Bhopal. The cause is yet to be ascertained,
“As the train was speeding, the fire spread to two adjoining coaches — B6 and B7. The pantry car was totally gutted by the time the train stopped,” the official said.
Railway officials quickly detached the three burning coaches to prevent the fire from spreading.
Senior railway officials and a medical team rushed to the site. A passenger was injured while helping others evacuate from the blazing coaches.
The cause of the fire, which started from the pantry car of the Delhi bound train, is yet to be ascertained. Though none was injured in the incident Railways has declared ex-gratia of Rs 5,000 for the passengers of coaches B6 and B7, which were affected by the blaze, the spokesperson said. Rail traffic has been disrupted in the Nagda-Kota line due the fire. Saxena said all steps are being taken to resume traffic in the line at the earliest and food and water is being supplied to the passengers.
There were about 900 passengers including Railway staff in the train. A three-member Railways team consisting of senior railway officials have been dispatched to the spot. The officials in the team are — Arunendra Kumar, R N Lal and Ashish Malhotra, Saxena said. Railways has also set up helplines at Kota, Ratlam and Mumbai to disseminate information about the incident.
