NEW DELHI: Nearly 300 passengers of Taj Express had a narrow escape on Monday afternoon after three coaches of the train caught fire near Sarita Vihar in southeast Delhi.
The train was immediately stopped after the flames were spotted and the blaze was subsequently doused. “No one was injured as the passengers were swiftly moved to the other adjoining coaches.However, the coaches were gutted,” said DCP (railways) KPS Malhotra.
Further investigation is being done by Railways and the fire department to ascertain the cause of the blaze. Police said a committee of officials from RPF and Railways has been constituted to enquiry into the matter.
An SOS call to police was made around 4.40pm, following which a team rushed to the spot near Apollo Hospital. It emerged that D2, D3 and D4 – all general chair car coaches – were up in flames. “The train (12280) runs from New Delhi Railway Station to Jhansi. Inquiry revealed it was running about 10 hours late and started from NDLS around 3pm,” said a senior cop.
Fire officials suspect a short circuit in one of the bogies may have triggered the blaze. Delhi Fire Service director Atul Garg said six fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took nearly two hours to douse the fire.
Another official said train fires often present challenges due to their unpredictable intensity and the distance from fire stations. “The train was not at the station; otherwise, we could’ve identified the nearest fire stations for refilling the tenders. Since we didn’t know how far the train had stopped, it complicated the situation,” the official said.
He said that ensuring sufficient water for extinguishing such fires is crucial. Therefore, in addition to the regular fire tenders, they called in two bowsers, each with a capacity of 12,000 litres of water.
When the team arrived at the scene, the fire had already charred one of the bogies. The firefighters formed several teams and began extinguishing the blaze, starting at the point from where it was spreading and gradually containing it towards the centre, and ultimately dousing it completely, the official said.
Another major challenge was entering the railway bogies, he added. “In the case of a regular fire, we enter the burning structure. But here, the bogies were made of iron, which turned into lava during the fire, making it impossible to enter. We could only spray water from outside,” the official said.
The train was immediately stopped after the flames were spotted and the blaze was subsequently doused. “No one was injured as the passengers were swiftly moved to the other adjoining coaches.However, the coaches were gutted,” said DCP (railways) KPS Malhotra.
Further investigation is being done by Railways and the fire department to ascertain the cause of the blaze. Police said a committee of officials from RPF and Railways has been constituted to enquiry into the matter.
An SOS call to police was made around 4.40pm, following which a team rushed to the spot near Apollo Hospital. It emerged that D2, D3 and D4 – all general chair car coaches – were up in flames. “The train (12280) runs from New Delhi Railway Station to Jhansi. Inquiry revealed it was running about 10 hours late and started from NDLS around 3pm,” said a senior cop.
Fire officials suspect a short circuit in one of the bogies may have triggered the blaze. Delhi Fire Service director Atul Garg said six fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took nearly two hours to douse the fire.
Another official said train fires often present challenges due to their unpredictable intensity and the distance from fire stations. “The train was not at the station; otherwise, we could’ve identified the nearest fire stations for refilling the tenders. Since we didn’t know how far the train had stopped, it complicated the situation,” the official said.
He said that ensuring sufficient water for extinguishing such fires is crucial. Therefore, in addition to the regular fire tenders, they called in two bowsers, each with a capacity of 12,000 litres of water.
When the team arrived at the scene, the fire had already charred one of the bogies. The firefighters formed several teams and began extinguishing the blaze, starting at the point from where it was spreading and gradually containing it towards the centre, and ultimately dousing it completely, the official said.
Another major challenge was entering the railway bogies, he added. “In the case of a regular fire, we enter the burning structure. But here, the bogies were made of iron, which turned into lava during the fire, making it impossible to enter. We could only spray water from outside,” the official said.
