Patna, Nov 3 (IANS): Passengers of Puri-Jaynagar weekly express had a narrow escape after a fire broke out in the overhead wire on Friday morning.

The incident occurred between Simultala and Gorparan railway stations at Kotarwa forest on Patna-Howrah main route. Due to the speed of the train, the driver could not apply the emergency brake. The train was stopped with normal procedures while Puri express crossed the affected area breaking some iron rods.

After the incident, train driver R. Besera informed Mahesh Kumar, the on-duty station master of Simultala railway station and he communicated to other officials of East Central Railway.

This incident led to five hours of traffic stoppage for several trains like Hatia-Patliputra express, Mokama-Howrah express and others on the up-line.

Railway engineers claimed that the passengers were lucky as the train would not have caught fire following this incident. After rectifying the errors, the railway operation restored on this busy route.