7 Die in Indian Train Fire in Howarh-Dehradun Express in Jharkhand’s Giridih district

Early on Tuesday morning, November 23, 2011 12:05 pm, seven passengers died in a fire on two coaches of the 13009 Howarh-Dehradun Express in Jharkhand’s Giridih district. Included in the casualties were an Australian woman and two children. Four other passengers were injured with burns and admitted to the Dhanbad divisional hospital’s intensive care unit.

According to Dhanbad divisional railway manager Sudhir Kumar, the accident happened near pole number 313 between Parasnath and Nimiyaghat stations. The B1 and B2 coach, which have three tiers, caught on fire at full occupancy. Eastern Central Railway officials were afraid that there would be more casualties, as another six passengers were still missing from the scene. The coach attendant has also seemingly disappeared.

Firefighters from Dhanbad and Giridih rushed to the train to extinguish the blaze and were successful after five hours. The two coaches had, by that time, been burned beyond recognition and were taken to the Parasnath station railway yard. Any rebel association with the tragedy has been ruled out. Railway protection force commandant Shashi Kumar said that incident happened around 2:35am, at which time a majority of travellers were sleeping.

Dhanbad division railway superintendent of police PK Srivastav says that they are still investigating the accident. More than 12 people suffered minor injuries. They have combed both of the burned coaches and only found seven bodies, and it appears they were all on the B1 coach, which caught fire first and was carrying 72 passengers. The B2 coach passengers were able to escape. Afterward, the burned coaches were detached from the train and transferred to Gomoh railway station, allowing the train to continue to its destination. The seven killed have been identified as 8-year-old Archita Thakur, 8-year-old Mahajabi Ali Akhtari, 22-year-old Kapiscamlan, 25-year-old Dr Anumati Singh, 56-year-old Usha Nagar, 58-year-old BR Nagar and MS Roza.

A passenger that boarded the train at Dhanbad said that he saw someone switching off the air-conditioning and turning on the heater as the train crossed Gomoh station. He complained about the heat to the conductor, and then he saw sparks close to the air-conditioner. The whole coach was full of smoke, and passengers woke up alarmed and running toward the connected B2 coach.

Central Reserve Police Force officer said he awoke to feeling suffocated. He pulled the chain and helped the travellers from the coach. A mother looked around desperately for her little girl, who was trapped in the blazing coach, he added.

Four Australian women boarded the train earlier in its journey. They were on a research tour and headed for Bodh Gaya. One of them died in the fire, and the other three were treated at Dhanbad Railway Hospital. One of the surviving women, who has asthma, said that she had trouble breathing. Hospital chief matron M Majumdar told reporters that the three women suffered many burns.