Eight injured as fire breaks out in New Delhi-Darbhanga Express near UP's Etawah

Etawah/New Delhi: A fire broke out in the New Delhi-Darbhanga Special Express train near Etawah in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday evening, damaging three coaches and injuring eight passengers, according to officials.

The cause of the fire, which broke out around 5:30 pm, was not known immediately. Plumes of black smoke were seen billowing out from the coaches.

"While one coach was gutted in the fire, two adjacent ones were partially damaged and a fourth coach was filled with smoke. All the four coaches were detached from the train," a police official present at the spot said.

"Many passengers lost their belongings in the incident," he said.

Uttar Pradesh Relief Commissioner Naveen Kumar said eight people, four of them from Bihar, were injured in the fire and admitted to the Etawah district hospital.

"The nature of injuries and other details of these passengers are being ascertained," he said.

Etawah Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjai Kumar had earlier said that four people suffered minor injuries in the incident but according to preliminary information, they were not burn injuries.

He told PTI that fire tenders were rushed to the spot after information about the incident was received.

Himanshu Upadhyay, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of North Central Railways, said the guard at the Sarai Bhopat junction near Etawah noticed smoke coming out from the New Delhi-Darbhanga Special Express' coach number S1.

"The train was immediately stopped and all the passengers were evacuated," he said.

"Alert railway officials averted a big tragedy today," he added.

The Railways made arrangements to accommodate the affected passengers in the remaining coaches of the train.

Once the train reaches Kanpur, additional coaches will be added to it to ensure a comfortable journey for the passengers, Upadhyay said.

Another senior railway official said the train left for Kanpur from Etawah at 8:18 pm.