Nashik/Mumbai: A fire broke out in a seating-cum-luggage coach of Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express near Nashik Road station in north Maharashtra on Friday afternoon, though there were no reports of casualties, Railway officials said. According to the officials, the fire, whose cause was not immediately known, erupted when the Godan Express (No. 11055) was on its way to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh from Mumbai (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus), prompting some passengers to jump out of the train when it stopped.
The train reached Nashik Road, around 200km from Mumbai, at 2.43 pm and left after halting for four minutes. When it was passing by the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) water filtration plant situated between Nashik Road and Gorewadi railway gate, smoke was seen coming out of the SLR (seating- cum-luggage rake) compartment attached on the rear part of the train, they said.
Passengers travelling in the bogie raised an alarm on seeing the smoke and when the guard came to know about it, he immediately stopped the train and informed Railway authorities, said the officials. As soon as the train halted, some passengers jumped out in panic. Nashik Road deputy station master Pritesh Dubey informed the fire brigade about the blaze, they said.
A Central Railway (CR) spokesperson said in Mumbai that the SLR bogie was detached from the train after heavy smoke was detected and the Godan Express subsequently left for its onward journey at around 3.30 pm. "Smoke was detected in the SLR coach of the Godan Express, and hence the fire brigade was called as a precautionary measure," the spokesperson said, adding no injury to anyone was reported.
According to Railway sources, a couple of vehicles and other goods kept in the SLR coach's luggage compartment were completely gutted. Several images and videos of the train fire surfaced on social media. Due to the incident, the train was detained at Nashik Road station for about 45 minutes.
As per the National Train Enquiry System (NTES), the train departed from LTT at 10.56 pm and reached Nashik at 2.43 pm, about 18 minutes late. Till the fire brigade arrived at the spot, Railway personnel tried to douse the fire with the help of foam. However, due to high tension power supply near the spot, dousing the blaze with the help of water was difficult, said the Railway officials in Nashik. After the affected bogie was detached, the fire brigade doused the blaze, they said.
