Fire engulfs train in Madhya Pradesh, over 60 passengers evacuated safely

A major fire broke out on the Thiruvananthapuram–Hazrat Nizamuddin Rajdhani Express in Ratlam district of India’s Madhya Pradesh state on Sunday (May 17).

According to Indian media outlet India Today, railway officials said the fire broke out around 5:15am in coach B-1 and an adjoining luggage van of train number 12431 while it was passing between Luni Richha and Vikramgarh Alot stations under the Kota division of West Central Railway.

Railway sources said a guard on the train first noticed smoke and flames and immediately alerted the loco pilot, following which the train was stopped and an emergency evacuation was launched. Power supply was cut off and the affected coaches were detached from the rest of the train.

Officials from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and railway staff managed to evacuate all 68 passengers from the affected coach within around 15 minutes. As a precaution, passengers from adjacent coaches were also moved to safety.

West Central Railway’s Kota division confirmed that no injuries or fatalities were reported in the incident. However, train movement on the Delhi–Mumbai route was disrupted for nearly two hours due to the emergency response.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and an investigation is underway.

This marks the second train fire incident in India within two weeks. Earlier, on May 15, a fire broke out in two AC coaches of the Hyderabad–Jaipur Special Express at Hyderabad’s Nampally Railway Station, though no casualties were reported in that incident either.