Burnt coaches of the Mumbai-Dehradun Express that caught fire in the wee hours near Dahanu in Thane district
Nine people were burnt to death in their sleep as a fire ripped through three coaches of the Bandra-Dehradun Express in Thane district of Maharashtra in the wee hours of Wednesday. Four bodies are yet to be identified.
The train departed from Bandra Terminus at 12:05 am and reached Dahanu on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border at 2:17 am. Two minutes later, the train left the station. As it moved past the level crossing between Dahanu and Gholvad stations, the gangman at the gate noticed smoke bellowing out of the rear coaches of the train. He alerted the Gholvad station manager who, in turn, informed the guard and the driver of the train about the smoke. The train finally came to a halt at 2:35 am, around two kilometres ahead of the level crossing. By this time, the fire had spread through the train's S1, S2 and S3 coaches when most passengers were asleep. By 3:30 am, the fire was brought under control. The three charred coaches were separated from the rest of the train which left for Dehradun in a few hours.
"Had the train gone even further, the fire would have spread to the remaining coaches as well due to the wind," said gangman Jawahar Singh.
Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge has ordered an enquiry into the incident. Officials examined the accident spot and the burnt coaches later in the day.
"It's very difficult to say how it happened. Some people were saying there was a possibility of people smoking in between S3 & S4 coaches," Divisional Railway Manager Shailendra Kumar said.
"The fire brigade was not able to reach on time as there are no road approaches to the spot, he said.
For the families of the victims, meanwhile, the trauma and pain will be difficult to overcome.
"My father and his colleague did the chain pulling together but he got left behind while waiting for the train to halt," said Parth Upadhyay.
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