The AC coach caught fire due to certain glitches in the brake shoe at around 10 p.m. Thursday, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) officials said.
The Puri-Durg Express train (No.18426) at Khariar Road station arrived at 10.07 p.m. The brakes were not released after the alarm chain pulling. The brake pads of B3 coach caught fire due to friction, the officials said.
Alert railway officials immediately responded and extinguished the fire before it could spread.
The fire was confined to the lower portion of the coach and there was no other damage reported. After the problem was rectified, the train departed the station at 11 p.m., the officials informed.
At least four train incidents have been reported in the state of Odisha only during the last seven days.
At least 288 people died and over 1000 were left injured after Chennai-bound Coromandel Express, Howrah bound SMVP-Howrah Superfast Express and a good train were involved in a major accident near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district on June 2 evening.
On June 6, the passengers of Sikandrabad-Agartala train deboarded at Berhampur railway station in Odisha after detecting smoke in an AC coach.
On June 7, stationed rakes of a goods train ran over eight labourers, near Jajpur-Keonjhar Road station, in which six were killed and two others seriously injured.A fire was spotted in an air-conditioned coach of Durg-Puri Express in Odisha's Nuapada district, causing panic among passengers, the East Coast Railway said.
No casualties were reported from the incident.
The ECoR, in a statement, said smoke was detected in the B3 coach of the train as it reached the Khariar Road station on Thursday evening.
"The brake pads caught fire due to friction and incomplete release of brakes. The fire was confined to brake pads. There was no damage," it said.
The problem was rectified in less than an hour and the train departed the station at 11 pm, the statement said.
The incident created panic among passengers, and most of them rushed out of the train.
