Fire in railway coach factory in Bhopal, worker sustains burns

BHOPAL: An employee of Railway Coach Factory sustained burns on hands after a fire broke out in Railway Coach Factory, here at Nishatpura Wednesday.

Chief workshop manager Lakshmi Raman said fire was caused due to short circuit in a compressor. “It was a minor fire and affected area was only about the size of a car. One compressor unit along with cables and wires was burnt.”

He said Brijkishore Pathak was outside compressor room when the incident happened. When he saw smoke emanating, he went inside to switch off power supply and was trapped in fire. He sustained around 40% burns. Currently, he is admitted to railway hospital, Nishatpura and undergoing treatment. His condition is said to be stable.

“Since equipment was old, current cost was about one lakh. The unit was damaged in the fire. Current cost of a compressor would have been about Rs nine lakh. There was no casualty or other damage,” Raman said.

Sources, however, said short circuit was caused because of old compressor and in use for more than 20 years and was due for replacement soon. But before that the incident happened.

Raman said factory officials contained fire within 15-20 minutes before BMC fire tenders reached the spot.