Late-night train catches fire in south India, causing delay on route

Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-05 14:21:05|Editor: Shi Yinglun
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NEW DELHI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out inside a late night train in southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh early Tuesday, police said.

No loss of life was reported in the incident.

The massive fire broke out in the pantry of the Yesvantpur-Tatanagar Superfast Express at East Godavari district, about 263 km northeast of Amaravathi, the main city of Andhra Pradesh.

"Early today at around 2:00 a.m. (local time) fire broke out on Yesvantpur-Tatanagar Superfast Express," a police official said. "All the passengers onboard are safe."

According to officials, soon after the blaze engulfed the bogie, the staff separated the pantry car from other coaches in a bid to prevent fire from spreading.

"The fire completely charred the pantry of the train," the official said.

Railway officials said the incident caused delay of trains on Vijayawada-Vizag sector.

The cause of fire was not immediately known. Meanwhile, authorities have initiated a probe to ascertain the reason of fire.

The train from Bengaluru, capital city of southern state of Karnataka, was destined to Jamshedpur in eastern state of Jharkhand.

The Indian government announced in 2015 an investment of over 137 billion U.S. dollars over a period of five years to boost railways and modernize it on new lines.

The Indian sprawling railways is the world's third-largest network, ferrying around 23 million people each day.

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