Fire on Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani; all safe

Ratlam - 19 April 2011: The pantry car of the 12951 Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express caught fire in the early hours of Monday. Two coaches were affected, but all passengers are safe.

Railway authorities said the accident happened at 2:20 am near the Thuriya station between Aalot and Vikramgarh near Ratlam. The fire is reported to have begun in the pantry car and spread to two adjoining coaches, B6 and B7. The pantry car was completely destroyed.

The fire has been doused, all passengers are safe and the situation is under control. The couplings of the coaches were detached immediately by the railway staff to stop the spread of fire.

The train has now resumed its journey towards Delhi via Kota.

Medical teams were rushed to the spot and the injured passengers were given first aid. One passenger was injured while helping women and children evacuate.

The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

Though none was injured in the incident Railways has declared ex-gratia ofRs.5,000 for the passengers of coaches B6 and B7, which were affected by the blaze, a railways spokesperson said.

There were about 900 passengers including Railway staff in the train.

A three-member Railways team consisting of senior railway officials have been dispatched to the spot. The officials in the team are - Arunendra Kumar, R N Lal and Ashish Malhotra, the spokesman said.

source: NDTV