NAWABSHAH, May 21: Traffic along the down track of the main railway line remained suspended for almost five hours early Monday morning when two bogies of an express passenger train caught fire near the Serhari Railway Station, some 14km from here. The up track was also affected but traffic was restored on it after a short while.

Lower air-conditioned bogies No. 7 and 8 of the 32 Down Balochistan Express travelling to Karachi caught fire at about 2:30am, reportedly due to a short circuit. No major injuries were reported but the bogies and baggage on them were reduced to ashes.

According to Syed Mohammad Rashid, Ghulam Abbas Qureshi and other passengers, they woke up by the smoke and pulled the emergency chain. However, it was jammed and no fire extinguisher was available. One of the passengers then climbed on to the roof of the train and informed the driver, they said, after which the train stopped at the Serhari station.

No help was available at the station, and no fire brigade managed to reach the spot on time.

Although passengers tried to extinguish the blaze using buckets and bottles of water, their efforts were in vain.

Passengers accused the police of looting valuables from the burning bogies and appealed to the authorities for compensation.

The destroyed bogies were detached from the train and passengers were adjusted in other bogies. The train left Serhari Station at 7:30am when the down track was restored.

The station master of the Nawabshah Railway Station, Saghiruddin, told Dawn that patrol staff noticed the fire and notified the station through wireless radio.