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Spread of Frontier Mail train fire `unusual`: Nitish
Ludhiana, May 15: Terming as `unusual` the burning of three bogies of the Frontier Mail in a short time, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said the probe into today`s fire in the train would be completed in shortest possible time and the findings made public.
Ludhiana, May 15: Terming as "unusual" the burning of three bogies of the Frontier Mail in a short time, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said the probe into today's fire in the train would be completed in shortest possible time and the findings made public.
Declining to hazard a guess on the probable cause of fire which killed around 40 people and injured many, Kumar told reporters here: "The Railway probe would reach to the conclusions in shortest possible time and findings would be made public in due course."
In the face of repeated questions whether the fire was caused by sabotage or any other reason like bursting of a stove or an electric short circuit, the minister said: "We will have to wait to know the cause of the fire."
All aspects of the accident would be thoroughly probed, Kumar said.
He said it was "unusual that three bogies of the train got completely burnt in (such a) short time". Meanwhile, preliminary examination of the burnt coaches of Frontier Mail showed that the fire was caused by bursting of a stove in S-4 coach - the worst-affected three tier sleeper reserved compartment, HC Gupta, Member, Safety, of the Railway Board, said ruling out sabotage.
He told reporters that forensic experts examined the coaches on two theories - electric short circuit and external reasons - and found pieces of a stove in the S-4 coach.
Gupta ruled out electric short circuiting claiming that electrical devices were intact. "There is no intentional sabotage", he added.
He said the iron rods in the windows near the burst stove were also bent due to the impact of the explosion. May be somebody tried to make his early morning cup of tea, he told a questioner.
The train had stopped at Ludhiana at 3.45 am and no passenger had reported any electrical malfunctioning, Gupta said adding all indications regarding cause of the fire were towards the bursting of the stove.
Gupta said the fire was not caused due to any lapse on the part of Railways in observing fire safety norms but probably due to safety violation by the public.
He said the commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) would commence his inquiry into the mishap tomorrow.
Some of the injured passengers told reporters that the blocking of the exit of the S-4 coach by the damaged boxes of Armymen had caused hindrance to the fleeing passengers.
Bureau Report
He said it was "unusual that three bogies of the train got completely burnt in (such a) short time". Meanwhile, preliminary examination of the burnt coaches of Frontier Mail showed that the fire was caused by bursting of a stove in S-4 coach - the worst-affected three tier sleeper reserved compartment, HC Gupta, Member, Safety, of the Railway Board, said ruling out sabotage.
He told reporters that forensic experts examined the coaches on two theories - electric short circuit and external reasons - and found pieces of a stove in the S-4 coach.
Gupta ruled out electric short circuiting claiming that electrical devices were intact. "There is no intentional sabotage", he added.
He said the iron rods in the windows near the burst stove were also bent due to the impact of the explosion. May be somebody tried to make his early morning cup of tea, he told a questioner.
The train had stopped at Ludhiana at 3.45 am and no passenger had reported any electrical malfunctioning, Gupta said adding all indications regarding cause of the fire were towards the bursting of the stove.
Gupta said the fire was not caused due to any lapse on the part of Railways in observing fire safety norms but probably due to safety violation by the public.
He said the commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) would commence his inquiry into the mishap tomorrow.
Some of the injured passengers told reporters that the blocking of the exit of the S-4 coach by the damaged boxes of Armymen had caused hindrance to the fleeing passengers.
Bureau Report