AP Express fire in Madhya Pradesh: Railway launches probe

Gwalior: The railway authorities launched an investigation on Tueday to find out the cause of the fire that gutted two coaches of New Delhi-Visakhapatnam AP Express on Monday, an official said.

A panel headed by North Central Railway’s chief safety officer S K Kashyap and comprising three senior officers visited the spot and inspected the two damaged coaches of the train around 11.45 am.

“We have started an investigation. This is not a easy and clear case…” Kashyap told a news agency over phone.

“We are going to talk to the eyewitnesses and other people to find out what exactly triggered the blaze…We need maximum three days to complete our investigation,” he said.

Once the probe gets over, the report will be submitted to the North Central Railway (NCR) general manager, who would forward it to the Railway Board and to the officials concerned, he added.

Two coaches of the New Delhi-Visakhapatnam AP Express caught fire near Birlanagar station here yesterday after the air-conditioning unit of coach B-7 threw up a problem.

All the passengers in the train, including 150 in the coaches B-6 and B-7 that got gutted, escaped unhurt, officials had said.

According to the officials, the fire appeared to have started from the Roof Mounted Packaged Unit (RMPU) (railway terminology for AC Unit) above the toilet of B-7 coach.

Some passengers on board of the train had pulled the emergency chain and stopped it after noticing smoke in a coach. After they got down, the fire swept the two cars.