Forensic report rules out blast as cause of train accident

The report on the January 8 Bandra -Dehradun Express fire accident that claimed nine lives is likely to be submitted to railway authorities by Tuesday.

The report, prepared by the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), states that no trace of explosives was found in the samples. The report, however, has not been able to ascertain if the fire broke out owing to inflammable material such as petrol, diesel, kerosene or cigarette.

The Railway Protection Force initially claimed that a cigarette was the reason behind the fire, while the Government Railway Police, probing the case, ruled this out.

“Now the FSL has confirmed our findings that the fire wasn’t caused by a cigarette,” sources in the GRP told

The Hindu . The agency is now awaiting the report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety, RPF, who was asked to probe the accident.

“The biggest damage has been detected in coach number S3 and we suspect that the fire originated there,” FSl officials said. The fire and the electric departments of the Railways are trying to find out whether short circuit was the reason for the accident.

As reported earlier by

The Hindu , authorities suspect that the fire began in the junction box near the lavatory of S3 coach.

Senior RPF officials said they were training sniffer dogs to locate liquor bottles from the luggage of passengers. As alcohol is highly inflammable, authorities consider it a major hazard.