A major fire accident occurred in Andhra’s Prakasam district in the wee hours of Thursday, when a few coaches of a goods train carrying petroleum products derailed and caught fire. No loss to life or any injuries were reported, as the incident occurred in a place with no human habitation, police said. 

The accident took place while the train was crossing the railway bridge over Musi river, between Surareddipalem and Tangutur town. According to Tangutur police, three of the 58 bogies were derailed. 

A railway department official told TV9 that the train was carrying fuel from Gangineni in Krishna district to Kadapa, when the accident occurred around 12 20 am, and two of the derailed wagons caught fire. The fire was soon brought under control by the fire services department. 

Around 200 metres of tracks were damaged, along with electrical arrangements, Additional Divisional Railway Managers (ADRM) Ramaraju told TV 9, adding that the repair works were expected to be done by 2 pm on Thursday. “An inquiry will be done on the exact reasons for the incident and the loss to property. On preliminary investigation, it looks like the excavation work being done for laying a new (railway) line caused the land to cave in, resulting in the accident,” he said. 

He also said that initial estimates suggest damages worth Rs 80 lakh. The remaining bogies of the train have been taken to Tangutur. 

Recently, in  February,  a passenger train narrowly missed an accident in Andhra’s Chittoor district. Coaches of the Venkatadri Express, which was going from  Hyderabad to Chittoor town, were separated near Mamandur station nearby. Three coaches of the express train were decoupled from the engine. The engine went on for about half-a-kilometer after the decoupling, before the railway department’s technical team rushed to repair the decoupling. However, no loss to life was reported.