Fire engulfs two bogies of Chhattisgarh Express, three injured

Deoband, UP, Feb 24 (UNI) Three people were injured as two bogies of the 8237 Chhattisgarh Express, on its way to Amritsar, caught fire, near here, last night.

The fire was detected near the toilet of the S1 compartment at 0107 hrs, as the train was about half a km away from the Deoband railway station, by the RPF constable, who immediately pulled the chain and alerted the train guard and driver. All the passengers were safely evacuated, but three people -- Jalandhar resident Shivtej Singh and his wife Balbir Kaur and Mrs Raj Chawla of Dehra Dun -- sustained injuries in stampede as the passengers rushed out.

They are undergoing treatment here.

Both of the bogies were completely gutted in the fire. Though the passengers of S2 coach managed to remove their luggage, the occupants of S1 were not that lucky and lost it all in the raging inferno.

Fire tenders from Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar reached the site, and struggled for four hours to douse the blaze. Employees of the Deoband Sugar Mill also poured out to help the passengers.

In the meantime, 8238 Chhattisgarh Express, waiting at Deoband station, was delayed four hours and traffic on the route was completely blocked.

Northern Railway General Manager Sriprakash reached the site early this morning, along with other senior officials, and inspected both the burnt coaches. He ordered a high-level committee to probe the incident and assured the victims compensation for their destroyed luggage.

UNI XC VD KP1457