General coach gutted as train catches fire at Madhubani station

Patna: A fire broke out in the general coach of the stationary Jayanagar-Udhna Antyodaya Express (22363) at Madhubani railway station under the Samastipur division of East Central Railway (ECR) early Thursday morning. Though no casualties were reported in the incident, the general coach was completely gutted in the blaze.According to railway sources, thick smoke was first seen billowing out of the coach, following which a massive fire suddenly engulfed the bogie. Railway officials immediately alerted the fire brigade, which rushed to the spot and battled the flames to bring the situation under control.Fortunately, the incident occurred when the empty rake was stationed at platform number 3 for routine maintenance work. As no passengers were present inside the coach at the time of the incident, a major tragedy was averted, Samastipur divisional railway manager Jyoti Prakash Mishra said. Jyoti added he immediately rushed to Madhubani station to take stock of the situation.According to sources, prima facie, the incident appeared to be a case of short-circuit. However, Jyoti ordered a detailed inquiry into the actual cause of the fire. “Strict action will be taken against the guilty persons after submission of the inquiry report by a special committee constituted to investigate the incident,” Jyoti said, adding the railways would conduct a fire audit in the division on priority to check the recurrence of such incidents in future.It may be recalled that this was the third fire incident reported in the ECR jurisdiction in recent weeks. Earlier, a fire had broken out at Muzaffarpur station in Apr, while another incident was reported in the stationary Sasaram-Patna passenger train at Sasaram station on May 18.