An empty coach of a train caught fire at Visakhapatnam station

Visakhapatnam: Tense moments were witnessed for almost an hour at Visakhapatnam railway station as fire broke out from a coach of an empty Korba Express train. Initially, smoke came out of a locked third air-conditioned B7 coach followed by fire while it was about to go for maintenance at Visakhapatnam station.

On Sunday, the Korba express train arrived at 6.30 am at the station here and all the passengers alighted. While the train was about to leave the station for the maintenance shed at 9.40 am, smoke was noticed by an RPF staff member and the catering stall manager.

AP fire brigades along with the staff from the railway station reached the spot and doused the fire within an hour. In order to put off the fire, door and window glasses had to be broken as the empty coach was locked.

The coordinated efforts of the fire staff aided in controlling the fire from spreading to other bogies. According to preliminary reports, a short circuit is said to be the reason for the incident.

Meanwhile, all trains have left Visakhapatnam on time and train operations were not affected due to the incident. The coach was taken to the maintenance depot for further investigation and rectification.

Divisional Railway Manager of Waltair Saurabh Prasad, Commissioner of Police Visakhapatnam Shanka Brata Bagchi, ADRMs Manoj Kumar Sahoo and Sudheer Kumar Gupta, Joint Collector, district fire officer and railway officers examined the coach. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident. Expert teams from East Coast Railway headquarters, Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and RDSO, Lucknow and State forensic team have been asked to conduct an inquiry.