Simri Bakhtiyarpur: Passengers had a narrow escape after two coaches of a train caught fire at the Simri Bakhtiyarpur station in Bihar in the wee hours of Monday.
The passengers were saved as the fire spread after the train stopped at the station. There may have been several casualties and injuries had it happened while the train was in motion. Most people would have been asleep at that time and would not have time to react.
An inquiry has been ordered by the railways. Prima facie, the fire seems to have started due to a short circuit.
“As the 63344 Samastipur-Saharsa MEMU arrived at Simri Bakhtiyarpur station around 3 am, the station master reported a fire in the motor coach of the train,” East Central Railway (ECR) CPRO Saraswati Chandra told PTI.
“The fire soon spread to another coach. As the blaze could not be controlled using fire extinguishers, fire tenders were called in. All passengers were safely deboarded and the overhead equipment (OHE) was switched off. Eventually, the fire was extinguished at 5.50 am. No casualties were reported,” he added.
He confirmed that an inquiry has been ordered to find out the reason behind the incident, adding that train services on the route were disrupted for two hours.