Forest fire: Hundreds of passengers stranded on Kalka-Shimla track
Forest fire: Hundreds of passengers stranded on Kalka-Shimla track
19 April 2010
published by www.himvani.com
India — Solan: Hundreds of passengers remained stranded on the world heritage Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge rail line for about three hours as two trains carrying them could not move due to a devastating forest fire that broke out between Gumann-koti and Taksal near Dharmpur today.
North zone railways assistant engineer Danish Kumar told HimVani that the fire broke out in the jungle at around 12 noon and the huge inferno interrupted railway traffic till 3.30 pm. The fire engulfed the track from both sides. A down train running from Shimla to Kalka and Himalayan Queen from Kalka to Shimla were forced to wait till the entire forest was reduced to ashes as firetenders could not access the jungle. He said that stormy winds further aggravated the flames. No loss of life was reported and all passengers were later safely left in their respective trains.
