Kolkata: Metro Railway passengers were subjected to a tremendous ordeal on Thursday evening after fire broke out inside an air-conditioned rake of a Dum Dum bound train just before entering Maidan station at around 5 pm.
Smoke was detected inside the compartment just next to the motorman's cabin soon after the train left Rabindra Sadan. The train came to a halt inside the tunnel at a distance of around 50 metres from Maidan station. A number of passengers were injured and were admitted at SSKM Hospital. Metro Railway has ordered a high level enquiry into the incident.
State Public Works Department (PWD) minister Aroop Biswas visited the hospital and took stock of those injured. He announced that the state government will bear the expenses of treating the injured persons.
Mayor Firhad Hakim and state Fire minister Sujit Basu also visited the hospital. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is in South 24-Parganas at present, also took stock of the situation over phone.
Passengers felt suffocated inside the compartment and some of them fell sick. As frantic phone calls to several Metro helpline numbers went unanswered, there were attempts of breaking the glass windows in a desperate attempt to come outside the stranded rake.
"It was so suffocating that we felt we would choke to death. Some male passengers broke one or two windows and some of those who were gasping for breath were brought out. There were no officials or rescue team in sight for at least half an hour," said Souvik Das, one of the passengers.
"There should at least have been some sort of announcement to ensure that passengers do not panic. But there was hardly any aid available. The disaster management system was found to be an utter failure," sexagenarian Naren Ghosh alleged.
A spokesperson of Kolkata Metro, however, denied allegations of such inaction. "We got message of the incident at around 5:02 pm. We immediately blocked the power supply to ensure that the fire does not spread. Fire services and the DMG of Kolkata Police were informed immediately and our staff brought hose pipes and sprayed water to control the fire that had broken out on the outer side of the rake. It was impossible to evacuate the passengers until we doused the fire. As soon as it was done at around 5:20 pm, we started rescue operation. All the compartments were emptied by 5:50 pm. There have been no casualties or major injuries to the passengers," the spokesperson said.
The passengers had to walk over the tracks to reach Maidan station. A number of passengers were found injured and many of them were taken to SSKM Hospital for treatment. "16 people have been injured and all have been taken to SSKM Hospital. One of the persons has suffered a fracture. The other persons have suffered minor injuries," said a senior official of Kolkata Police.
DG (Fire) Jagmohan and Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar rushed to the spot immediately after the incident.
Truncated services were started between Central and Noapara and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar to Kavi Subhash. It was around 8 pm when services were normalised. With the transport lifeline of the city going haywire, passengers who availed road public transport faced severe harassment and were stuck in huge traffic snarls in and around the area.