Nine dead as Bandra-Dehradun Express catches fire in Thane district(Photos)

Surat, 8 January 2014

Nine people have been killed in a fire that broke out on the Bandra-Dehradun Express near Dahanu Road Railway station in Thane district late last night. The Dehradun Express runs between Bandra Terminus and Dehradun station.

The fire broke out in S3, S4 and S5, three sleeper coaches of the train, at around 2 am when most passengers were asleep.

The train was brought to the Gholvad Railway Station, around 145 km from north of Mumbai on the Maharasthra-Gujarat border, where rescue teams and fire brigades rushed.

The three charred coaches were separated, so that the rest of the train can be sent to Dehradun.

The train later reached Valsad station in Gujarat.

Two victims identified are Dipika Shah and Devshankar Upadhyay.

Family of each victim will get Rs. 5 lakh relief from the government.

Some of the major fire incidents in recent years in trains:

-Last month, 26 passengers were charred to death in an AC coach in the Bangalore-Nanded Express. Earlier, a fire in the Tamil Nadu Express had claimed 32 lives.

-Seven persons were burnt to death in November, 2011 when a coach of Howrah-Dehradun Express train caught fire. Later, the fire spread to another coach and both the coaches were badly burnt.

-Three coaches of Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express had caught fire near Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh on April 18, 2011.

-New Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express’ generator coach caught fire on the outskirts of New Delhi Railway Station in July, 2011.

The steps recommended against fire incidents:

One of the recommendations of the Commissioner Railway Safety following the fire accident in Howrah-Dehradun Express in November 2011 was to give instruction to Railways’ production units manufacturing AC coaches to develop AC compartment doors which are operable from both inside as well as outside. Currently, AC coach doors can be opened only from inside the compartment.

Setting up a fire test laboratory at Research Development and Standards Organisation (RDSO) in Lucknow to develop strong fire retardant materials for coaches and make AC compartment doors operable from both sides.

A new technology with a four-layer alarm system in all Rajdhani trains to bring a train to a halt automatically in case of smoke or fire. The Jammu Rajdhani to be the first train to have a fire alarm integrated with an automatic emergency braking system.

30 rakes comprising 750 coaches having the new technology have been sanctioned and they will be rolled out from Railway Coach Factory in Kapurthala.

Railways have also issued notification for comprehensive fire safety audit for material used in coach construction and its maintenance, system of checking for carrying inflammable material on trains, availability of fire extinguishers, training of manpower in handling fire and fire safety equipment.

It has also been decided that all on-board staff should be provided with preliminary fire fighting training such as operation of fire extinguishers.