A fire broke out on the Korba-Visakhapatnam Express (18517) train at Visakhapatnam railway station on Sunday morning, affecting four empty coaches. The incident, which occurred around 10 am, was quickly brought under control, and no casualties or injuries have been reported.
Visakhapatnam Commissioner of Police Shankar Brata Bagchi confirmed that the train, which had arrived at the station at 6:30 am, was empty when the fire started. He said, “The fire broke out around 10 am. Fortunately, the coaches were empty, so there were no casualties. Local fire services responded promptly.”
An FIR will be filed, and forensic experts will be called in to determine the cause of the fire, which might have resulted from a short circuit or another factor. “We will lodge a complaint and engage forensic experts to ascertain the cause of the fire. The investigation will proceed once forensic evidence is analyzed. Currently, there are no suspects,” Bagchi added.
Waltair Division RM Saurabh Prasad explained that the empty rake was scheduled for maintenance at the coaching depot. “At 9:20 am, RPF staff observed smoke coming from one of the coaches and promptly alerted the fire brigade. The fire was extinguished by 11:10 am. As per protocol, two adjacent coaches were evacuated, and the remaining coaches were moved to the coaching depot,” Prasad said.
Prasad further detailed, “The empty rake was waiting on the platform for maintenance. At 9:20 am, RPF staff noticed smoke and immediately alerted the fire brigade. They, along with station staff, managed to control the fire by 11:10 am. After evacuating the two adjacent coaches, the rest of the rake was moved to the coaching depot for inspection.”
He added that, following clearance from the Andhra Pradesh fire department, the adjacent coaches were also evacuated and taken to the depot for further examination. “We will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire, which originated from the B7 coach,” Prasad concluded.
