3RD INCIDENT IN THREE WEEKS
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Fire on Kanchanjunga Exp
Subhro Maitra TNN
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Malda:...
more... Passengers on the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express had a close shave on Thursday when it caught fire while entering Malda Town Station. Thankfully, the train pulled into the station within seconds and a firefight was quickly mounted. Had the fire broken out on a remote stretch, the effect may have been disastrous.
This is the third such incident in three weeks — on February 11, the Rajdhani SLR bogie was gutted in a fire at Howrah station just two minutes before it was to leave and a day later, the New Delhi Duronto escape disaster when the driver detected that the vacuum pipes and wiring on eight coaches had been snapped mysteriously.
Around 12.40pm on Thursday, the 15658 Dn Guwahati-Sealdah Kanchanjunga Express had entered Malda station limits when smoke was seen spewing from the wheels of the SLR van. It triggered panic among passengers in the train and those waiting on the platform. Officials at the station immediately pulled out the firefighting equipment and started hosing down the fire. It was put out in minutes. No damage was done and train was not delayed either.
Station superintendent Manik Sengupta said: “Friction caused by the brake shoes may have caused the fire. As it was spotted at the platform, no accident took place.”
Ticket fraud busted:
Malda RPF has busted a gang that blocked tickets on long distance trains and then sold them at a premium. Two suspects — Debasis Roy and Miandad Hossain of Manikchak — have been arrested.
Debasis was nabbed on Wednesday when police spotted him buying tickets from the reservation counter at Atul Market. Upon interrogating him, police came to know about Miandad, who runs a shoe shop at Manikchak. His house as raided and he was arrested. Several etickets were seized from him.
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