New Delhi-Vizag AP Express catches fire in MP; no casualties

New Delhi/Gwalior: Two coaches of the New Delhi-Visakhapatnam AP Express on Monday caught fire near the Birlanagar station in this district, but the passengers escaped unhurt, officials said.

Some passengers noticed smoke in a coach and pulled the emergency chain in the nick of time to alight to safety. Later, fire tenders put out the blaze.

Two coaches — B-6 and B-7 — of train No. 22416 (New Delhi - Visakhapatnam), a fully air-conditioned express, caught fire at around 11.45 am, North Central Railway's (NCR) Chief Public Relations Officer Gaurav Krishna Bansal said.

Thirty-seven deputy collectors, who were returning from training, were on board the train, but they were not injured in the incident, an official said.

According to sources, in the preliminary investigation, it has come to notice that the fire broke out due to half-burned cigarettes as several cigarette butts were found in the coach in which deputy collectors we on board.