Fire on Mumbai-Dehradun Express Wednesday Jan 08,2014

Nine people were burnt to death in their sleep as a fire ripped through three coaches of the Bandra-Dehradun Express in Thane district of Maharashtra in the wee hours of Wednesday Jan 08,2014. Four bodies are yet to be identified.

The train departed from Bandra Terminus at 12:05 am and reached Dahanu on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border at 2:17 am.
Two minutes later, the train left the station. As it moved past the level crossing between Dahanu and Gholvad stations, the gangman at the gate noticed smoke bellowing out of the rear coaches of the

The Gangman alerted the Gholvad station manager who, in turn, informed the guard and the driver of the train about the smoke.

The train finally came to a halt at 2:35 am, around two kilometres ahead of the level crossing. By this time, the fire had spread through the train's S1, S2 and S3 coaches when most passengers were asleep. By 3:30 am, the fire was brought under control.

The three charred coaches were separated from the rest of the train which left for Dehradun in a few hours.