As the Indian Railways finds itself cornered over a recent spate of rail accidents, a major tragedy was averted on Wednesday when a fire broke out in one of the coaches of the Tripura Sundari Express in Assam.
The incident occurred when the train numbered 14620 Firozpur-Agartala Tripura Sundari Express carrying passengers was entering the Lumding Junction.
However, no passengers were injured in the incident due to quick action of the railway authorities.
According to the information at hand, the train was coming from Firozpur and headed to Agartala. While entering the Lumding Junction, a technical snag led to a fire at coach number 189/7.
When the authorities received information of the fire, they immediately rushed to the spot and the fire was brought under control. Repair works are currently underway at Lumding Junction.
However, the episode caused panic among the passengers on the train with rail accidents seeing a sudden rise. A passenger said, "While entering the station a fire broke out and the people started to panic and run out of the train. Some tried to desperately put out the fire by pouring water on it."
"The authorities were quick to act and a firefighting team managed to bring the fire under control soon. The security personnel were on hand to calm down the frightened passengers," the passenger added.
Meanwhile, a railway personnel said, "Around 1,400 metres before entering the platform, a fire broke out from the wheel of the train. The co-pilot on the train was very active and the firefighters were on hand to douse the flames. No one was injured in the incident."
