Nashik (Maharashtra), March 22 (IANS): The rear parcel bogie of the Mumbai-Gorakhpur Godan Express, which had set off from Mumbai, caught fire near the Nashik railway station on Friday afternoon but there were no casualties, officials said.

Local eyewitnesses and passengers said that soon after the Godan Express departed from the Nashik Road railway station for its onward journey to Gorakhpur, a passenger in the general compartment and a train guard noticed the smoke and flames leaping out of the parcel van at the rear side.

The train guard immediately alerted the authorities, got the slow-moving train stopped and fire-fighting operations launched.

As it was difficult for the fire brigade from the city to reach the incident spot, the railway personnel used fire extinguishers and foam jets to extinguish the blaze, which was intense and fanned by strong winds, creating a risk of spreading to the passenger bogies.

Meanwhile, many passengers seemed to have panicked and jumped off the train along with their luggage and waited beside the railway tracks.

When the fire brigade managed to reach, they could not direct the water jets as these could hit the high-tension overhead live wires and it was decided to separate the burning bogie from the rest of the train after disconnecting the power supply.

The blaze was extinguished soon afterwards even as senior officials from Central Railway divisions rushed to the spot to investigate the incident and its cause.