It was a tough time for the fire tenders and the railway staffers to contain the fire in three Express trains that erupted after the passengers got down on Thursday at the Puri main station. Five sleeper class coaches of the trains were gutted.
According to sources, Puri-New Delhi Super Fast Nandankanan (Nilachal) Express arrived at 4 pm at the platform number 4 at the Puri Station. However, no sooner did the passengers disembark than suddenly at about 4.15 pm flames from the toilet of a sleeper coach (no-12) were noticed by the railway staff. They informed the fire tender units while disconnecting the coach from the rest of the train.
While fire tenders were dousing the fire from the coach at 5.15 pm, another fire erupted from the sleeper coach of the Puri Tirupati-Bilaspur train while standing at platform number two of the station. Fire tenders from Satyabadi were summoned and were trying to douse the fire.
Surprisingly at 6 pm, the Puri-Howrah Express standing at the platform number six caught fire and two of its sleeper coaches were gutted. The train was to begin its journey at 8.15 pm. The railway authorities and the fire fighters had a trying time as three trains caught fire in close succession of just an hour of interval.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) detained one Pankaj Singh (60) of Hazaribag and Rabi, a rag picker, in this connection. The fire tenders were facing difficulty to use their gadgets as adequate water was not available and the high fence around the station prevented the water pipes to pass. Pankaj is a suspected lunatic person.
In the meanwhile, Puri SP Asish Kumar Singh and Divisional Railway Security Commissioner SK Mishra arrived in Puri railway station and were taking stock of the situation, when the report was being filed.
The East Coast Railway ordered a high-level inquiry into the mishap and the committee has started its work. Khordha Road Divisional Railway Manager SK Singh and IG/RPF Atul Pathak were on the spot.