Chandigarh, May 13
Passengers travelling in the Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi had a narrow escape this morning when one of the coaches caught fire. No one was reportedly injured.
The incident happened when the train was on the Shahabad-Markanda stretch and was running at a speed of more than 100 km an hour.
According to officials the fire occurred due to a short circuit in the air conditioning unit. The switch box and other gadgets were damaged in the fire.
The passengers in bogie No 15844A of the C-I coach ran towards the other compartments the moment they noticed the flames.
The emergency chain of the train was pulled by the passengers. The train finally halted at the Markanda River bridge. Fire extinguishers were used to extinguish the fire.
According to a passenger Sunil Kumar, initially they saw smoke coming through the door, which later burst into flames. He said the passengers tried to run for safety to other compartments, but beat a retreat due to the intense smoke in the linking passage capsule.
Railway officials on board helped the passengers to move to other compartments and alerted the authorities at Ambala Cantt. The Divisional Railway Manager, Mr Rakesh Tondon, and other senior officers reached the station along with teams of technical and medical experts. When contacted the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Mr M.S. Chalia, said: “AC supply to the coach was disconnected and passengers were shifted to other compartments”.
