Smoke in Delhi Metro: ‘Saw women shouting, thankfully there was no stampede’

Smoke coming out of the AC vent due to electrical short circuit on Delhi metro’s women coach caused panic among passengers travelling on the Blue Line on Thursday evening. Many of them alleged that a major crisis was averted as the train was stationed at Laxmi Nagar station and its doors were open when the short circuit took place.

Priyanshu Gupta‏, who had boarded the train at Mandi House and was going to Nirman Vihar, said, “Around 6:30 in the evening, as soon as the train stopped at Laxmi Nagar, we heard women passengers shouting and rushing out of the door. Thankfully, the smoke came out when the train was at the station otherwise it might have led to a stampede-like situation,” he said.

He said that the passengers on the train were evacuated and people had to board the next the train.

The Metro officials, however, said that there was no evacuation as it was a minor incident. “There was minor smoke but nothing serious. The security personnel shifted the passengers to other compartments as a precautionary measure,” a DMRC official said.

Also, there was no delay in the services, he said. No casualties have been reported.

Several people even took to Twitter to report the incident. Ipsita Sarkar tweeted, “Delhi Metro’s women’s coach at Laxmi Nagar metro station caught fire. All are safe. #delhimetro (sic)”

Another commuter Rohit Jha‏ tweeted, “Fire in Delhi metro Laxmi Nagar station. Smoke erupted in women coach, quickly there was stampede, women and children hurt, my wife escape with some injury at around 18: 30. (sic)”

Metro officials, however, denied any such panic situation and said, “There was no chaos at the station.”

Thursday’s short circuit on Delhi Metro, considered one of the safest mode of transport, was the third fire-related incident this year.

Last month, a train on the Yellow line, heading to Samaypur Badli, was evacuated at Rajiv Chowk station, after sparks were reported on the roof of the train. Though initial reports indicated a short circuit, officials said that a probe was on.

On June 13, services were delayed by around three hours due to snag on the same Blue Line (Dwarka 21-Noida City Centre/Vaishali). An overhead electrical wire (OEW) snapped between Indraprastha and Yamuna Bank stations after a bird hit.

It is the second time that a fire related incident was reported from Delhi Metro’s Blue Line.

Not just the trains, the metro stations have had minor fire incidents in the past aswell. Earlier this month, a minor fire incident was reported at the Barakhamba station, which also falls on the Blue Line, after a short circuit in one of the control rooms. However, the situation was brought under control within the hour, and DMRC spokespersons said that they had called fire tenders for precaution.

Last year, in December, a coach of a six-coach train had caught fire at the Patel Nagar station. Passengers had panicked when they saw smoke coming out of the air conditioner vents, and alerted authorities. Passengers had been evacuated at the Rajendra Place station. No injuries were reported.