Kannur: Coach of halted train catches fire

A coach of an express train which halted at the Kannur railway station in Kerala caught fire in the small hours of Thursday.

The train was standing stationary on a track several meters away from the platform and a Bharat Petroleum fuel depot, a fire rescue officer said.

The incident occurred after all the passengers had deboarded and therefore, no one was injured, an officer of RPS Kannur said.

However, it was yet to be determined whether it was sabotage or some electrical fault which caused the fire, he said.

An officer from Kannur Fire and Rescue Station said they received information about the incident at around 1.30 AM and when they reached the site, one of the coaches was completely engulfed in flames.

Visuals of the incident aired on TV channels showed huge flames coming out from the windows of the coach with thick plumes of smoke rising into the air.

Four fire tenders were deployed in fire-fighting operations and the flames were extinguished by around 3.15 AM, the fire rescue officer said.

He said that it was the third coach from the back which had caught fire.

Forensic investigation will determine what was the cause of the incident, he added.

On April 2 night, three people, including a baby, died in a train arson incident in Kozhikode district, which had shocked the country.

On that day, accused had set his co-passengers on fire onboard the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train when it reached Korapuzha bridge near Elathur in Kozhikode.

Nine people had suffered burn injuries in the incident while three, including the toddler, were found dead on the tracks. Police suspect that they fell while trying to escape from the fire.