Fire near Kalwa tracks disrupts CR’S evening peak-hr services
63-year-old woman suffers heart attack in stranded train, condition stable
THANE: Local train services were delayed by more than 40 minutes on Friday evening, after a fire broke out near Kalwa station on the Central Railway (CR) network. No casualties or injuries were reported. However, one passenger suffered a heart attack when train services were temporarilysuspended.revatisampat, 63, was admitted to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital (CSMH) in Kalwa, said officials from Thane’s Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC).
On Friday, a fire was reported around 4.30pm near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-end of Kalwa train station. RDMC officials said the fire broke out in a garbage pile near the railway tracks and was doused within 20 minutes by the fire brigade. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. No casualties or injuries were reported. As a precautionary measure, local train services were stopped.
“A total 10 local services, running in both directions, were stranded from 4.42pm to 5.18pm, till the fire was doused. However, there were no injuries. No cancellations of trains were reported,” said a senior CR official.
During those 28 minutes,
RDMC received information that Sampat, a resident of Shilphata, had suffered a heart attack on the Dombivli local. However, no ambulances were available near the station. Thane’s Government Railway Police (GRP) said it has only two ambulances, both of which were stationed a distance away. “It is the responsibility of Thane station administration to make available additional number of ambulances for Thane section. But our demand falls on deaf ears,” said a Thane GRP official. Sampat was taken to CSMH in an RDMC vehicle present at the spot. “Waiting for the ambulance would have delayed providing medical help to the patient,” said an RDMC official. Her condition is now stable. “The patient has been shifted to intensive care unit and is undergoing treatment,” said a doctor from CSMH. Commuters said they were stranded for more than 40 minutes because of the fire. “As the incident occurred during peak hour, it caused inconvenience to office-goers stranded in the local trains running towards Kasara,” said Pranali Jadhav, 24, a regular commuter from Kalyan.
Another commuter, Shraddha Gaikwad, 25, said the Kalyanbound local she’d boarded at Dadar reached its destination 40 minutes late.