Bhubaneswar: More than 1,000 passengers of Puri-Jaynagar Express train had a narrow escape as overhead electric wire caught fire in Bihar on Friday.
As per reports, 18419 Puri-Jaynagar Express left Puri station on time in the morning. While the train was travelling on Patna-Howrah main line, the overhead wire caught fire between Simultala and Gorparan stations.
On finding the wire on fire, the people of nearby villages tried to draw the attention of the train driver by gesturing towards it. But the loco pilot could not apply the emergency brake as the train was going in high speed.
When the train reached close to Simultala, the loco pilot stopped the train as per normal procedure and informed the station master.
On being informed a technical team of East Central Railway went to the spot and repaired the damaged electric wire. They claimed that a major mishap was averted due to alert loco pilot. The train was carrying 1,000-1,300 passengers.
The movement of trains on the route was affected for nearly 5 hours due to the incident. Hatia-Pataliputra Express, Mokama-Howrah Express and others on the up-line were detained for the period.
