Had gateman Yashpal Singh, a retired army officer posted at one of the railway level crossings near Bhandai station, not acted in the nick of time and alerted his higher-ups, the fire in Patalkot Express coaches would have turned into a major tragedy on Wednesday afternoon.

“When the train was passing through the gate at 3.35 pm before reaching Bhandai station, Singh detected smoke coming out from the 4th coach from the engine. No one inside the train was aware of it,” a source, who is privy to internal communication in the Agra division, told PTI.

“Yashpal immediately called Haridas, the deputy station superintendent of Bhandai station, who further informed the control room," he added.

He said that the train controller immediately directed the OHE (Over Head Equipment) in charge to shut down the power supply of all trains in UP and DOWN directions to stop them at their respective locations Senior officials have also acknowledged the commendable work of Singh who is posted at Bhandai station since 2021.

“By the time the Patalkot Express stopped at 3.37 pm, it had already crossed the Bhandai station. Within 10 minutes, fire brigade, ambulance and SPART (Self Propelled Accident Relief Train) were asked to reach the site,” the source said.

“In the meantime, the fire had already engulfed the two coaches -- 3rd and 4th from the engine. However, all the passengers were evacuated in time,” he added.

According to the Railway Protection Force, the fire was completely extinguished by 5.10 pm, and a total of 11 people received minor burn injuries.

Rahul Kumar (18), Mohit (25), Shivam (18) Manoj Kumar (34), Hardayal (59), Maniram (45), Rameshwar (29), Gaurav (22), Sidharth (18) Hitesh (17) and Vikas (17) were injured in the train fire.

The train was heading to Seoni in Madhya Pradesh from Firozpur Cantonment in Punjab when the fire broke out near Bhandai, about 10 km from Agra.

Agra Railway Division PRO Prashasti Srivastava said the cause of the fire was not immediately known.

"A fire incident in Patalkot Express has been reported between Bhandai and Jajau in NCR (North Central Railway), Agra Division. Two coaches have been completely burnt. Since two adjacent coaches have also been affected, a total of four coaches have been detached from the train, the situation is under control," she said.

Dr Prashant Gupta, Principal of S N Medical College in Agra, said that he was aware of nine people admitted to hospitals.

"Seven were admitted to my hospital and two to a nearby hospital. Three of them have already been discharged from both hospitals. At present five patients in my hospital and one in the other hospital are being treated. All of them have minor burn injuries," he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) of the Agra Police Commissionerate Sonam Kumar said five fire tenders and a forensic team reached the spot after the fire was reported.

"Train operations on the Agra-Dholpur route were impacted as many trains have been stopped at various stations,” the source said.

The train left for its destination at 7.30 pm after accommodating the passengers of the affected coaches in other coaches, a railway official said.

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