Rajdhani coach catches fire, all safe

BHUBANESWAR: Hundreds of passengers of the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express had a providential escape after a fire broke out in a coach minutes after it arrival here on Wednesday evening. No one was hurt nor was any passenger’s property lost in the fire as there was no one in the train when the fire occurred, East Coast Railway (ECoR) sources said. The fire erupted in B-4 coach about 10 minutes after the train reached Bhubaneswar station. Carrying about 500 passengers, the train arrived here at 5.45 pm. At about 5.55 pm, attendants noticed smoke emanating from the coach, fourth from the engine and alerted the Fire Station. “Since Bhubaneswar is the termination point, there was no passenger in the train. Besides, 10 minutes had already elapsed and the train was being readied for washing lines,” ECoR Chief Public Relations Officer Rabi Mohapatra said. While absence of passengers averted a disaster, the fact that the train was stationary also contained the damage to a great extent. Fire Officer BB Das said short-circuit in the AC panel board of the coach apparently caused the fire. “We received the intimation at 6.04 pm and within four minutes, the tenders reached the station,” he said. The situation was brought under control by 7.15 pm. Since Rajdhani Express had chugged into Platform No. 4, which is closer to Kalpana Square where the fire station is located, the firemen and tenders reached the spot immediately. The compartment was badly damaged though. This is not for the first time that Rajdhani Express had faced such an incident. Earlier in the past, problems like technical snags and AC disorder have caused serious inconvenience to the travellers.