Fire service personnel at Bhubaneswar railway station. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 12: Passengers of the Secunderabad-Howrah Falaknuma Express survived a fire scare here today.

The gatekeeper at Retang railway station, around 12km from here, saw smoke emanating from one of the wheels and alerted railway officials who rushed in with help as soon as the train reached Bhubaneswar. There was no damage to the train.

Eyewitnesses said when the train arrived on platform No. 1 of Bhubaneswar railway station, smoke was emanating from under a first AC compartment. When the train stopped, fire brigade personnel and other railway officials arrived at the spot. Passengers of two compartments were evacuated immediately.

“When we saw officials approach the train, initially we did not understand what was going on. When we asked, they told us about a fire incident. We were terrified,” said Soumen Lenka, a youth who had come to see off his friend who was going to Howrah.

The fire brigade team had to intervene before the technicians could repair the damage. The train resumed its journey after a 20-minute halt at Bhubaneswar.

“We were worried about our safety when we were asked to board the train again,” said R. Khan, a passenger who had boarded the train from Berhampur. He said a team from the railway travelled till Bhadrak to ensure there was no further problem.

Bhubaneswar station manager Mohd M. Khan said after the train left Khurda Road junction at 12.30pm, the gatekeeper at Retanga station noticed the smoke and informed his station manager. The official immediately informed Khan.

“We immediately called the fire brigade. We also kept our technical, electrical and mechanical staff ready to check the problem and take necessary action as soon as possible. The train arrived at the station around 12.45pm and our teams began work right away,” said the station manager.

It was found that the smoke was emanating from the v-belt of a wheel under compartment due to excessive friction. The rubber belt had started to burn due to over heating.

After the fire brigade team cooled the damaged area, technical teams of the railway removed the belt. Thereafter, the train resumed its journey.

Assistant fire officer Ramesh Majhi said they had rushed to the station with two water tankers. “It was a minor accident, but it could have become big if the authorities did not take immediate steps,” said Majhi.

A railway official said had the gatekeeper not noticed it, a major mishap could have occurred.

“We removed the belt, which had begun to burn. There was no further risk. Still we sent a team of technical experts on the train till Bhadrak station to observe if there was any further threat,” said Khan.