Passengers recount trip on burning train

Four coaches of Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani caught fire early Monday morning It was a horror I would never forget. My family and I jumped out of the burning train amid leaping flames and thick smoke, said Satya Vir Singh, a passenger of Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express whose four coaches caught fire early Monday morning. Singh, his wife and two children were in B-7 coach of the train which was one of the ill-fated coaches that had caught fire between Alot and Thuriya stations in Ratlam district at around 3 am. Singh, whose luggage was completely gutted, said Collecting luggage was not our priority that time. Passengers being greeted by their relatives after they arrived at New Delhi railway station on the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani ExpressI alerted my wife and children who were sleeping and asked them to get out of the coach immediately,u00a0 said he. Another passenger Bahadur Mistry, who with his group of 34, was going for an adventure tour to Shimla, Chandigarh and Manali, said We all jumped out one after another from the train. There was smoke everywhere. So, we lost not time in getting out, said Mistry. The fire completely destroyed two bogies of the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express. All the 1,100 passengers on board are however safe, the officials said. Preliminary investigation suggests that short-circuit might have caused the fire in B-6 and B-7 coaches and the pantry car, said Ravi Mohan Sharma, Ratlam Divisional Commercial Manager. Which caught fire between Alot and Thuriya stations in Ratlam district of MPThe two coaches B-6 and B-7 were fully damaged, while B-5 and the pantry car suffered minor damage. Fire tenders were rushed to the spot from Ujjain and Ratlam, he added. Railway authorities have announced ex-gratia of Rs 5,000 each for the 144 passengers in B-6 and B-7 coaches. Sharma said that Commissioner, Railway Safety (Central Circle) has started a probe into the incident and the report would be submitted to the Railway Board in seven days. Western Central Railway (WCR) Chief Public Relations Officer, Piyush Mathur said that after the affected coaches were detached, the train left for Delhi at around 8.20 am on Monday. Rail traffic was disrupted in the Nagda-Kota line for some time due to the incident, he added. Helplines have been set up at Kota, Ratlam and Mumbai to provide information about the incident. Recounting the early morning horror, Shroff, another member of the 34-member tourist group, said the incident has not deterred them from going ahead with their journey. Though we have lost much of our luggage in the fire, we are not cancelling our onward journey, he said. Like Shroff and Singh, many other passengers recounted their traumatic experiences at New Delhi station after the Rajdhani Express reached the national capital at 3.25 pm, more than seven hours behind schedule. I was woken up by the commotion. Without wasting time, I came out of the coach. The place where we disembarked was quite deserted, said Astha, a passenger in B-9 coach. Though there was no fire in my coach, I could see the burning coaches in front of me and it was a fearful sight, she said. Praveen Khurana, a resident of Subhash Nagar in the Capital, was fast asleep in B-6 coach when the fire broke. Railway staff knocked at our coach from the outside and asked us to come out. Fire brigade came after one hour. However, Khurana said People from the surrounding villages were very helpful as they provided water to douse the fire. There was no time to collect luggage. We received Rs 15,000 from railways as compensation but my loss was about Rs 80,000, said another passenger Heema Talati, who was in the coach near the pantry car with her two children. I am happy that we jumped out of the coach in time, she added.

Category	Quantity	Cost
For Book Publishers	Single	6,500
	Pack of 5	22,000
	Pack of 10	35,000
	Pack of 20	55,000

Category	Quantity	Cost
For Documentary / Filmmaker	Single	20,000
	Pack of 5	50,000
	Pack of 10	80,000
	Pack of 20	1,20,000

Video Clip - For Television Show Makers/Production Houses
Quality	SD		HD		4K
Duration	30s	30-90s	30s	30-90s	30s	30-90s
Cost	20,000	30,000	40,000	60,000	80,000	1,20,000

Video Clip - For Television Show Makers/Production Houses
Quality	Cost	Duration
SD	30s	20,000
SD	30-90s	30,000
HD	30s	40,000
HD	30-90s	60,000
4K	30s	80,000
4K	30-90s	1,20,000

Passengers recount trip on burning train

Next Story : Arunima shifted to AIIMS trauma centre

Mid-Day Web Stories

Mid-Day Web Stories

IC 814 actor Rajiv Thakur shares, 'Maine toh real hijack...'

Mid-Day Top News: Maharashtra assembly polls likely only after Diwali and more

Special | Maharashtra assembly elections: Who’s the real NCP in Mumbra-Kalwa?

Maharashtra assembly elections: Want unity, not CM post, says Uddhav Thackeray

Ajinkya Naik wins Mumbai Cricket Association president elections