Flames doused in 30 min, railway official calls it minor incident

Passengers of a Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express had a close shave yesterday when the train was stopped just before entering the city, after smoke was seen rising from its rear compartment.


The burning train: Generator coach of the Rajdhani Express
caught fire near Mandawali railway station in East Delhi on
Tuesday evening. PIC/Imtiyaz Khan

This is the second incident in two days, when a Delhi-bound train has faced tragedy. The nation is still shocked with the Kalka Mail disaster that took place on Sunday in UP.

According to a fire officer the incident was reported at around 5pm. He said that fire broke out in the last coach of the Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express. "We received a call at 5.05 p.m. that there was a fire on the Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express which had just crossed the Yamuna River and reached Mandawali area of East Delhi.

Immediately five fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the fire." The incident, he said, took place in the last coach of the train carrying the generator, which indeed had caught fire. Fire tenders took half an hour to bring the blaze under control. However, he added that the reason behind the fire was yet to be ascertained.u00a0u00a0

Meanwhile, describing it as a 'minor' incident, the Northern Railway Officer said, "The train was carrying 1,000 passengers but no one was hurt and no loss has been reported. We immediately brought the train to a halt between Anand Vihar and Tilak Bridge stations and the generator coach was immediately detached from the rest of the train, bringing the situation under control."