Doon Exp mishap: Was fire triggered from an abandoned bag?

Ranchi, Nov 24: With various conspiracy theories doing the rounds on the reasons behind the deadly fire at the Doon Express that resulted in the death of 7 people, the officials are still grappling to find the real reason behind the disaster.

With faulty air condition cited as the reason behind the short circuit that later led to the fire, other probability theory has risen when a passenger claimed that a man had entered the B-1 coach of the train and left a bag in it before leaving immediately. After his statement, three Australian women have backed his claims that they too saw the man carrying the bag. The passenger in the train had stated that immediately after he left the bag, fire broke out in the coach.

The statement of the 3 women from Tasmania gains prominence in this scenario with they becoming witness in the investigation. One of their co-passengers, an Australian woman had died in the tragedy.

The woman were traveling to Bodhgaya when the disaster struck. They gave the statement that the man entered the coach at around 2am and placed his luggage in an unoccupied upper berth. Others in the ill-fated train commented that this man switched on the light in the coach which woke the other passengers who were sleeping. He is believed to have stayed there for close to five minutes and left with his luggage except for a bag.

Others have stated that the abandoned bag had a foul smell and smoke started emanating from it after some time. The fact was noticed by one passenger and the three Australian women. The upper berth where the abandoned bag is alleged to have been kept incidentally contained traces of chemicals. Forensic experts are investigating the matter further.

One of the three Oz women, Naomi Cappelli recalling the incident said that they were stuck inside the coach. She added, "I saw flames inside the coach. Everybody was trying to get out. We tried to break the glass of the window, but could not. We moved towards the toilet. The exit door was closed, we could not open it. We forced our way inside the toilet, and remained there for over 15 minutes. Later, someone called out that the door had been opened. We then got down from the coach."

OneIndia News