Several hundreds of passengers had breathed a sigh of relief after what could have been a major accident after the fire in the general compartment of Baraumi-New Delhi 12552 superfast Vaishali Express were taken care of before anyone was hurt. However, the response unit tending to the fire was slow so panic couldn't be prevented.

The fire broke out on one compartment, 01494. The incident took place between Bansi and Gonda on the night of Tuesday, 119 KM from Lucknow.

A few sparks from the fans turned to flame as the train was moving at its routine speed and the wind added to the fire and spread it all over the compartment. Though the passengers were quick to react to the incident pulling the emergency chain, the train continued to lunge at the same speed until a guard who noticed the commotion in the compartment notified the driver on walkie-talkie.

Only then did the train halt, bringing relief to the panic-stricken passengers. The divisional rail manager (DRM) Vinod Kumar Yadav said all passengers were safe and the bogey was discarded at the Lakhpatrai Railway Station.

He added that the prima facie evidence for the incident seemed to be electric overcharging, affirming that an investigation into the case would be initiated immediately.

(AW- Anil)