Passengers aboard the Amritsar–Saharsa Garib Rath Express (Train No. 12204) experienced panic when a coach caught fire near Sirhind railway station in Punjab’s Fatehgarh Sahib district early Saturday morning. Officials stated that the incident took place at approximately 7.22am when flames broke out in the “G-19” AC coach as the train was passing Sirhind station. The train had no scheduled stop at Sirhind and was en route to Ambala Cantt. The govt Railway Police (GRP), Northern Railway staff, and local fire services responded swiftly to prevent a major tragedy.The fire was quickly extinguished, and all passengers evacuated to adjoining coaches safely. One female passenger received minor burns during the evacuation and was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Fatehgarh Sahib. The GRP officials claimed that her condition was stable. Station House Officer, GRP Fatehgarh Sahib, Rattan Lal said, “Initial investigations indicated that an electrical short circuit might have caused the fire, as no evidence of explosives or flammable materials was found at the site. To limit the damage, three affected coaches, including the one on fire, were detached from the rest of the train immediately. He said, “As soon as the incident was noticed, Railway authorities swung into action, shifting passengers to other coaches and extinguishing the fire quickly. No casualties have been reported. The train will resume its journey to its destination shortly. The flames have been doused however still the fire extinguish team, with three fire tenders, is on the job as some smoke is still present. We are carrying out another search operation inside the burnt bogey G – 19 to verify that there are no other passengers left inside. All the passengers were rescued. Besides GRP escort inside the train, a rail attendant Amandeep Singh played a key role by pulling the chain to stop the train and in shifting the passengers to another coach when the bogey G-19 caught fire. Later our teams reached the spot and rescued passengers including hospitalizing a woman passenger”. Train services were temporarily suspended for repairs and safety inspections, leaving passengers stranded for several hours. Authorities reported that the situation was under control, and a detailed investigation has been ordered to ascertain the exact cause of the fire.
