Two coaches of Chennai-Coimbatore Cheran express catch fire

Two coaches of Chennai-Coimbatore Cheran express catch fire

train Coimbatore, July 19: One person was charred to death in a massive fire that gutted the general compartment of Cheran Express this morning, while over 100 other passengers had a miraculous escape due to alertness of railway staff.

The general compartment of train, which was coming from Chennai to the city, was totally gutted and the break van next to it was partially burnt in the blaze near Irugar about 15 km from here, railway sources told PTI.

The guard in the break van noticed heavy smoke emanating from the toilet and alerted the driver who immediately stopped the train, just before Irugur railway station, at 5.40 am.

Both the driver and guard managed to detach the compartment and the break van before the fire spread and nearly 100 passengers rushed to safety, the sources said.

The charred body of a person was recovered from the toilet of the compartment, the sources said quoting initial reports.

The cause of the fire was not known immediately, the sources said.

Senior railway and police officials rushed to the spot and an inquiry would be ordered into the incident, they said.

Though some passengers claimed that the person found dead in the toilet had committed self-immolation which led to the fire in the train, there was no confirmation.

The fire tenders immediately rushed to the spot from the city and nearby areas and put off the fire around 6.45 am, the sources said.

Due to the heat generated by the fire, no persons could go near to the gutted compartment for nearly one hour, they said.

The sources said the train later reached Coimbatore.
Coimbatore: One person was charred to death and over 100 passengers escaped miraculously when a massive fire engulfed the general compartment of Cheran Express, coming from Chennai to Coimbatore, near Irugur, about 15 Kms away, Tuesday morning.

The general compartment was totally gutted and the break van next to it was partially burnt in the fire, railway source told PTI.

The charred body of a person was recovered from the toilet of the compartment, the sources, quoting initial reports, said.

The reason for the fire was not known immediately, the sources said.

The guard in the break van noticed heavy smoke emanating from the toilet and alerted the driver who immediately stopped the train, just before Irugur railway station, at 5.40 AM.

Both the driver and guard managed to detach the compartment and the break van, before spreading of the fire, and nearly 100 passengers jumped to safety, without any injury, sources said.

Coimbatore, July 19 (UNI) One person died when two coaches of the Chennai-Coimbatore Cheran Express caught fire near Irugur station, about 20 km from the city, early this morning.

Police said the charred body of a man was recovered from the the last compartment, which was completely burnt in the fire. Other passengers of the last two compartments, which caught fire, however, escaped unhurt.

While one of the coaches was completely burnt another was party damaged.

It was not clear as to how the fire broke out. some railway officials suspect that the fire was the outcome of a suicide attempt by the man whose body was found in the toilet from where the fire is said to have originated, other officials felt the fire could have been started from a cigaratte lighted by a courier boy whose luggage accidentally caught fire.

The last two compartments were immediately detached from the train.

All the trains coming towards Coimbatore were delayed for more than two hours following the incident, official sources said.

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