.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Fire on Parked Train Destroys Wires, Ceiling
BENGALURU:Fire broke out in an empty First Class AC compartment of Hazur Sahib Nanded-Bangalore City Express (Train no. 16593) on Saturday after it had terminated its journey at the City station. The train was on its way to the stabling yard (temporary halting place for trains) when the fire broke out, damaging the roof of the compartment, burning the AC wiring and destroying one corner of the bogey.
The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and a three-member inquiry committee has been set up to look into the issue,” said Sanjiv Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM).
The DRM said that the Nanded Express left Hazur Sahib Nanded station (in Maharashtra) station at 6 am on Friday and reached the City station at 5.20 a.m Saturday. It was taken to the stabling yard at 6.30 am.
“Around 8.50 am, someone from the stabling yard noticed smoke emanating from the AC compartment. The coach was isolated and the fire department alerted,” Agarwal said.
Fire personnel reached the station within 10 minutes of the call, he said.
“The top corner of the coach, where the attendant sits, has been damaged. It appears that the fire has spread from there to the roof of the compartment. The AC wiring is gone too.”
“I am perplexed about how the fire started because all the train doors are shut before it is taken to the stabling yard and the AC coach has sealed windows,” he said. The AC in the train is switched off a few minutes before it reaches the destination, he added.
Agarwal ruled out speculation that it could have been a lit cigarette left behind that could have caused the fire, saying passengers would have left the coach around 5.30 am and the fire started only by 8.50 am. “Fire from a lit cigarette would not take that long to spread. Also all windows are closed, which rules out the chance of someone throwing a butt in,” he said.
The committee, consisting of assistant officers from the mechanical, electrical and security departments, is expected to submit its findings in a week or two.
Burning Cigarette Sparked Fire in Stationary Train: Report
BENGALURU:A burning cigarette left behind carelessly by a person in the toilet caused the fire in an AC coach of the Hazur Sahib Nanded-Bangalore City Express on April 11, an inquiry committee has established.
The report on the fire accident in a First Class compartment on Train No 16593 was submitted on Wednesday by C S Gupta, senior divisional electrical engineer, Bengaluru Division, to Divisional Railway Manager Sanjiv Agarwal. The fire had broken out in the empty AC compartment (coach no 06002) around 8.50 am when it was on its way to the stabling yard at City Railway Station after arriving from Nanded, Maharashtra. There were no casualties but the roof of the compartment, the AC wiring and one corner of the bogey were destroyed.
Agarwal said, “A one-man committee has established that it was not a case of electrical short circuit as was initially suspected. All the electrical systems were intact.”
As the train had reached the station around 6.30 am and the fire broke out only around 8.50 am, well after all passengers had disembarked, the cigarette is suspected to have been left behind by someone who had boarded the train in the intervening period. “In the past, we have had incidents of miscreants entering empty AC compartments to use the toilets by forcing open the shutter of the coach. Something similar happened here,” Agarwal said.
He added that the probe committee did not find a cigarette butt, but believes it may have burnt completely in the fire.
The accident cost the Railways a loss of around Rs 1.5 lakh. Probe into the matter had initially been entrusted to a junior officer but was subsequently handed over to a senior officer.
On the steps to be taken to avert such incidents in future, Agarwal said the Railways would make sure that supervision is increased around empty compartments.
