Passengers Have Narrow Escape As Train Compartment Catches Fire In Odisha’s Balasore

Representative Picture

Balasore: More than 100 passengers of a train had a narrow escape as fire broke out in a compartment in Odisha’s Balasore district on Thursday.

As per reports, the Bhadrak-Kharagpur MEMU train was moving haltingly as the driver was repeatedly applying the brake due to technical snag. As the train was approaching Bahanaga station, smoke started coming out from underneath its last compartment.

As the smoke filled inside the compartment and the passengers found it difficult to breath, they started shouting and creating noise. On coming to know about it, the driver stopped the train just before the station.

As soon as the train stopped, the passengers jumped out of the compartment to save themselves. The Fire personnel at the station rushed to the train and spotted fire under the compartment. They extinguished the fire before it could spread further.

More than 700 passengers were travelling in the train with 150 of them in the last compartment, the sources said adding that it has been stopped for checking by the engineers. The fire is suspected to have been started by frequent braking on the way, they added.