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Chandigarh, October 18 (IANS) A major accident was averted due to the intervention of railway staff when a fire broke out in an AC coach of Amritsar-Saharsa Express (Train 12204) at Sirhind station in Punjab.
However, no one was injured during the incident.
The cause of the fire has not been known yet. However, after the security check the train resumed its journey towards Saharsa in Bihar.
On detection of smoke, the railway staff evacuated all the passengers safely from the burning coach and took them to another coach of the train.
Emergency teams also extinguished the fire, preventing it from spreading further. According to railway officials, the fire was seen around 7.30 in the morning.
“As soon as the incident was detected, railway officials swung into action and immediately shifted the passengers to other coaches and the fire was also immediately extinguished. The train will depart for its destination soon. No casualties. The time of the incident is 7.30 am,” the railways said in a statement.
In a video of the incident, fire extinguishers are seen working after a massive fire broke out in a coach.
Another video showed passengers on the railway tracks as smoke could be seen in one of the train compartments.
A police officer said smoke was seen in an AC coach of the train and passengers were evacuated safely.
The official said that fire tenders were immediately called to extinguish the fire.
Train No. 12204 Amritsar-Saharsa Garib Rath Express covers the distance of 1,716 km in just over 31 hours. The train runs from Amritsar on three days – Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
During its journey between Amritsar and Saharsa, train number 12204 stops at 23 railway stations. These are: Beas, Jalandhar City, Phagwara, Dhandari Kalan, Ambala Cantt, Delhi, Hapur, Moradabad, Bareilly, Hardoi, Lucknow NR, Gorakhpur, Deoria Sadar, Siwan, Chhapra, Hajipur, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Dalsingh Sarai, Barauni, Begu Sarai, Khagaria and S. Bakhtiyarpur.
–IANS
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