KOLKATA: Sixteen people were hospitalised with unconsciousness due to asphyxiation caused by smoke after an AC metro rake caught fire near Maidan metro station in central Kolkata on Thursday evening.
"Sixteen people have been admitted to the hospital out of which one person has sustained a fracture with the rest having minor injuries. The blaze was caused due to a spark at the front of the train," said additional deputy commissioner (south) Aparjita Rai.
Several people also became senseless due to smoke in the tunnel where the metro rake caught fire. Some passengers evacuated by breaking the windows of the metro rake while others evacuated through the motorman's exit sustaining minor injuries in the process.
Several passengers claimed that the train was moving with the blaze and then halted. Metro Rail CPRO Indrani Bandopadhyay said, "The power connection was switched off after smoke was seen in an AC metro rake while running from Rabindra Sadan towards Maidan. Metro staff started dousing the fire from outside after which the people were evacuated. Our primary concern was the evacuation and our biggest relief is that there are no casualties"
However, passengers complained that they were trapped inside the rake for over an hour before being rescued by the metro rail authorities. They also complained that there was no announcement from the motorman which caused panic among them. Metro Rail CPRO added that the motorman had continuously announced passengers not to panic but if they could not hear, there could have been a possibility of a technical glitch. Metro services were partially resumed between Central and Noapara stations in the north and Tollygunge and Kavi Subhash stations in the south.