Train narrowly escapes disaster after bogie fire

Officials laud prompt action by staff that saved lives

RAWALPINDI:

The Rehman Baba Express from Peshawar to Karachi narrowly escaped a major accident after a massive blaze engulfed the power plant bogie of the moving train on Wednesday.

The staff on the train separated the affected bogie from the train in a timely manner and kept the passengers safe.

The accident took place near the Rawalpindi Taxila railway station.

Following the incident, movement of trains on the Peshawar to Rawalpindi railway track was partially suspended.

Witnesses said that Rehman Baba Express from Peshawar to Karachi was going from Taxila Station to Rawalpindi Railway Station when suddenly the power plant bogie of the train caught fire.

The fire was so intense that it engulfed the entire bogie.

Flames and thick plumes of smoke were seen rising from the bogie.

The railway authorities were apprised of the situation, who then suspended traffic and contacted the fire department.

Firefighters doused the fire by spraying water on the affected bogie from both sides of the track.

Railway officials said that the power plant on the locomotive had been completely dismantled due to the fire.

Senior railway officials on the site inspected the affected bogie and had it shifted to the railway carriage factory for repair.

The officials added that the prompt action of the staff on the train averted a major disaster and all the carriages the passengers in the train were safe and there was no loss of life.

The officials added that a three-member committee had been set up to investigate the causes of the fire in the power plant.

The experts would also compile a report on the damage caused by the fire and submit it the deputy superintendent of Pakistan Railways within a week.

The committee would also recommendation actions to make the power plant bogies safer.

They said that the affected Rehman Baba Express had been sent to its destination by providing it another bogie fitted with a generator.