Hundreds of passengers onboard Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express had a miraculous escape when fire broke out in three coaches and the pantry car in the early hours of today while the speeding train was passing through Rajasthan.

No one was injured and all the 1,100-odd passengers on the train were safe, officials said, adding two passenger coaches were fully gutted.

The passengers in the three affected coaches were jolted out of their sleep after dense smoke entered the compartments.

The fire broke out at around 2.20 am when the train was between Alot and Thuriya stations, about 75 km from here, in Kota division of West Central Railways, the Ratlam Divisional Commercial Manager, Mr Ravi Mohan Sharma, told PTI.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the fire started in the pantry car due to a short-circuit and soon spread to the adjacent B-6 and B-7 coaches on one side and the B-5 coach on the other side.

Mr Sharma said that B-6 and B-7 bogies were fully damaged, while B-5 and the pantry car were partly damaged. Railway authorities have announced ex-gratia of Rs 5,000 each for the 144 passengers in B-6 and B-7 coaches.

The couplings of the four affected coaches were detached immediately by the railway staff at Thuriya to stop the spread of fire, Railways spokesperson Mr Anil Saxena said in New Delhi.

Fire tenders were rushed to the spot from Ujjain and Ratlam, he said.

Mr Sharma said that Commissioner, Railway Safety (Central Circle) had started a probe and the report would be submitted to the Railway Board in seven days.

WCR Chief Public Relations Officer Mr Piyush Mathur said after the affected coaches were detached, the train left for Delhi at 8.20 this morning.

The passengers reached New Delhi this evening, relieved that they survived the fire. Several of them said that they had lost their belongings. Rail traffic was disrupted in the Nagda-Kota line for some time.

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