Fire Kills One on Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express

A fire broke out in two coaches of the Tatanagar-Ernakulam Express train early on December 29, 2025, killing one passenger near Elamanchili in Andhra Pradesh's Anakapalli district, railway officials reported. The incident occurred around 1 a.m. as the train, numbered 18189 and traveling from Tatanagar in Jharkhand to Ernakulam in Kerala, passed through the area.

The blaze originated in the B1 air-conditioned coach and quickly spread to an adjacent coach, engulfing both in flames, according to authorities. The locomotive pilot noticed smoke and immediately halted the train, enabling the rapid evacuation of passengers. Officials stated that 82 people were in one affected coach and 76 in the other at the time. While most passengers escaped unharmed amid scenes of panic and confusion caused by dense smoke, a body was later recovered from the charred B1 coach. The victim was identified as Chandrasekhar Sundaram, a passenger from Vijayawada.

Railway personnel detached the damaged coaches from the rest of the train to prevent the fire from spreading further. The unaffected portion proceeded to Ernakulam after a delay of more than four hours, while passengers from the burned coaches...