Fire scare in Yeshwantpur-Dadar Chalukya Express; prompt railway staff avert tragedy

Bangalore: Smoke emanating from underneath a coach of a train bound for Dadar in Mumbai from here caused anxious moments before it was put out by the railway crew at Chincholi station in Belgaum District of Karnataka, a senior police officer said. A possible mishap was averted on the Yeshwantpur-Dadar Chalukya Express when railway authorities noticed the smoke and spark and doused it, Belgaum Superintendent of Police Chandragupta said. He said the train resumed the onward journey after a brief halt at the station, near Raibag. As soon as the train came to a halt at the station, the railway crew noticed the smoke billowing from the bogey and swung into action, he said. Railway sources said the smoke and spark emanated from near the wheel and the train was detained for a very brief period. The incident took place close on the heels of nine passengers losing their lives after three bogeys of a speeding Mumbai-Dehradun Express caught fire near Dahanu town in Maharashtra`s Thane district in the wee hours today, the second such incident in the last fortnight. There was also a minor fire incident today in the Lucknow Shatabdi due to brake jam. Smoke started emanating from the wheels of the Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express triggering panic among train passengers in the morning at Ghaziabad station. On December 28, an air-conditioned coach of the Bangalore-Nanded Express train caught fire in the early hours in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh, killing 26 people and injuring 13 others.