Empty coach catches fire at Kannur station: NIA steps in; forensic probe underway

Kannur: The empty coach of a passsenger train halted at Kannur railway station caught fire at 1:25 am on Thursday.

The Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express was stationary at yard no. 8 close to platform no. 3 of the station when the fire started.

Experts are of the view that a major accident was averted as the distance between the burnt coach and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation's (BPCL) fuel tank in the vicinity was just 100 m.

Railways' divisional additional manager (ADRM) Zakir Hussain said the cause of the fire will be known only after the forensic examination.

Meantime, Kerala police has started an investigation into the incident. The National Investigation Agency too stepped in and has sought information from the police.

In the CCTV footage, a person was seen carrying a can and moving towards the train in the dark. 

According to the railway authorities, this may be a case of arson. The fire started after the engine was separated from the compartments; so there is little chance of a short-circuit, said an eyewitness.

Three fire fighter teams worked for hours to extinguish the fire; the coach, however, was entirely destroyed. No fatalities have been reported.

The fire broke out in the same train Shahrukh Saifi, a resident of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, had set ablaze by pouring inflammable fuel on the passengers.

Three people died and nine suffered burns in the incident that took place aboard the D1 compartment of the Executive Express near Elathur in Kozhikode on April 2.