Title - Passengers jump off burning train, many injured

ELURU: About 80 passengers jumped off Guwahati-Trivandrum Express bogies near Eluru town on Monday after they noticed sparks and smoke in one of the sleeper coaches. This comes after the recent fire on Tamil Nadu Express that killed 30 people. At least 20 passengers suffered injuries even as the train was coming to a halt near Tammileru bridge in the town. Many escaped grievous injuries as they jumped into the stream, but some of them were hurt badly as they fell on stone blocks in the stream.It all began when passengers of S-7 bogie of Trivandrum Express saw smoke emanating from the bottom of the coach when the train was slowly approaching Eluru. Within minutes, the smoke turned into a small flame. Frightened passengers shouted for help, even as a good number of youth ran towards the exit door and jumped from the running train.
Snapped belt caused train fire
One of the passengers pulled the chain and by the time the train came to a halt, nearly 80 passengers from three neighbouring coaches had jumped into the Tammileru stream near CR Reddy College.The driver and guard rushed to the spot and used a fire extinguisher to contain the flame. The Vijayawada division officials believed to have directed the engine pilot not to move the train till engineers inspect the coach. As a result, the train was stopped on the bridge for more than 30 minutes.Local technical staff carried out inspections and found that a belt from one of the AC coaches had snapped, resulting in the minor fire. A relief van from Vijayawada was also rushed to Eluru but returned empty after the engineering staff gave the go-ahead for the Trivandrum Express for its onward journey.A senior railway official said the passengers had unnecessarily panicked and jumped off the train. He said the train was in good running condition. "Small sparks emanating from the coaches is common because of friction and they are not life-threatening," he reasoned. SCR general manager Asthana, who was in Vijayawada to attend a conference, rushed senior officials to the spot along with the rescue train.