One person lost his life after two compartments of the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express caught fire in Andhra Pradesh's Yalamanchili, which is 66 km away from Visakhapatnam, said the police on Monday. The victim has been identified as Chandrsekhar Sundaram.
According to the officials, they received information about the fire around 12.45 am, after which several teams were rushed to the spot. They said the two compartments were carrying 82 and 76 passengers, respectively, when the fire broke out.
The officials said the fire broke out in the B1 AC coach near the pantry and it spread to the adjoining M2 coach as well. One of the passengers noticed the fire and pulled the emergency chain, halting the train after which people were evacuated, the officials said.
"In Train Tatanagar to Ernakulam – a fire incident was reported at Yelamanchili (YLM) station in Vijayawada division. Fire brigade reached the spot and extinguishing operations are underway," the South Central Railway said.
Following the incident, two compartments were detached from the train, the officials said, adding that two forensic teams have been rushed to the spot to find out what caused the fire. They also said arrangements are being made to send the passengers in the damaged compartments to their respective destinations.
"Unfortunately, a dead body was found from the B1 coach," an official said, as quoted by news agency PTI.
Earlier, a similar incident was reported at the Gondia railway station in Maharashtra when a fire was reported in a coach of an accident relief medical van. The train was stationed on the platform number 3 when the fire was noticed by some of the passengers.
Immediately, officials rushed to the spot and the fire was brought under control within 30 minutes. No one was injured in the incident, said officials.
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