Mumbai-Amritsar Western Express train coach catches fire; passengers safe

Passengers rushed to safety after one of the coaches of a Mumbai-Amritsar Express train caught fire near the Silver Bridge in Gujarat's Bharuch at around 5:30 pm on Tuesday. The incident was caused allegedly by a short circuit in the electrical system, according to sources. 

People started to exit the train in panic when smoke fumes were reportedly spotted coming out of the train near the bridge. 

The incident caused the train to halt for about 45 minutes. 

Fire-fighting and police staff reached the spot immediately after passengers informed the Bharuch fire authorities.

Bharuch fire brigade service and railway officials put out the fire successfully. 

No casualties were reported due to the incident at the time of publishing this report.

The train was headed to Amritsar in Punjab from Mumbai in Maharashtra.

Following a thorough inspection, the train was moved to the Bharuch station after transferring passengers from the affected coach to another coach. 

The Western Railway, one of the zones under the Indian Railways, said that smoke was detected coming out of the rubber gasket behind the middle door of a general coach in the train No. 12925 at around 5 pm on Tuesday. 

Railway staff on duty quickly doused the fire using the onboard equipment, the Western Railway said.      

The train and the passengers are completely safe, and continuing their journey, it noted. 

The Western Railway suspected that a passenger smoking on the moving train caused the incident. 

Railways authorities are investigating the incident in detail, it added.