A man was charred to death while several others had a narrow escape when two compartments of the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express (Train No. 18189) they were travelling in caught fire early Monday, said a senior police official.
The mishap occurred at Yalamanchili in Andhra Pradesh’s Anakapalli district.
As per preliminary information, the train was travelling from Ernakulam via Vishakhapatnam district, when it caught fire at around 1.30 a.m. after crossing Duvvada. Coaches B1 and M2 AC, adjoining the pantry car, caught fire, killing 70-year-old Chandrsekhar Sundaram, a resident of Vijaywada.
The police official told reporters that there were 82 passengers in one of the affected coaches and 76 in another when the train caught fire. “Unfortunately, a dead body was found from the B1 coach,” the official said.
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As smoke filled the coaches, travellers panicked and rushed out, but poor visibility because of the flames added to the confusion. The blaze spread quickly before the fire services arrived, completely gutting the two AC coaches.
It was only after loco pilots near Yelamanchili noticed the fire that the train was halted. All other passengers are safe, said railways officials, who shifted them to Samarlakota using APSRTC buses.
The two damaged coaches were detached from the train, which proceeded towards Ernakulam. The incident led to delay in several trains heading to Vijaywada from Vishakhapatnam.
Two forensic teams are working to ascertain the cause of the fire, the police official said, while railways officials have ordered a detailed inquiry to ascertain the exact cause of the fire and safety lapses, if any.
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