Shaheed Express Coach Fire Near Nagina, Bijnor: About 80 Passengers Out, Two Reported Burnt; Cracker Material Found, No Deaths

What happened

On the night of Friday, 23 October 2026, smoke and flames rose in the S-6 sleeper coach of the Shaheed Express (14674, Amritsar to Jaynagar) near the Kotwali railway crossing, just before Nagina station in Bijnor district, Uttar Pradesh. The time is given as about 10.30 pm (Dainik Bhaskar, Nagina), 11 pm (Northern Railway to PTI) and 11.15 pm (Dainik Jagran, Bhaskar Bareilly). The fire brigade logged its call at 11.24 pm (Amar Ujala). Passengers pulled the alarm chain and the train stopped at the crossing. Updated 26 October 2026.

About 80 passengers got down from the coach (Prabhat Khabar, Dainik Jagran). Bystanders told Amar Ujala that some passengers jumped onto the tracks with their luggage and several hurt their hands and feet. Dainik Bhaskar (Bareilly) reports that a father and his 17-year-old son were burnt, the man on his left hand and the boy on his hand and the back of his head, that six seats, blankets and several bags burnt, and that passengers threw burning blankets and bags out of the windows. Northern Railway’s spokesperson told PTI that nobody was injured and the damage was minor. We have no hospital report, so the injury figure is contested.

How the fire was put out

The Nagina fire officer told Amar Ujala that his team reached in about five minutes and found the coach full of smoke, with seat 67 and a bag of clothes on it burning; water was used. Dainik Jagran (Moradabad) says the train’s own fire extinguishers also helped. The time to put the fire out is contested: about 10 minutes (Bhaskar Bareilly, quoting a railway officer), about 30 minutes (PTI, Dainik Bhaskar Nagina). The train stood for about 35 minutes at the crossing and 42 minutes at Nagina station (Amar Ujala), reached Moradabad at about 2.45 am (Dainik Jagran), and the burnt coach was replaced at Bareilly Junction at about 5 am; PTI says the train stood there for about 40 minutes. The Janata Express was held at Bundki station for about one and a half hours so that the line stayed clear (Amar Ujala).

What caused it: two versions

Early reports blamed a short circuit near a mobile-charging socket. Amar Ujala quotes the fire officer saying a passenger may have left a phone charging, and Prabhat Khabar says the GRP in-charge told reporters the cause would be known only after inquiry. Later reports changed this. Dainik Bhaskar (Bareilly) says railway officials found the coach wiring and charging point intact, and that a cracker-type device made of sulphur and potash (gandhak-potash), wrapped in paper, was found near the seat. The railway protection force (RPF) told Dainik Jagran that a packet of sulphur-potash and an iron tube used to fire it were recovered, and that the fire began in a bag. The passenger concerned, a man travelling with his family, told the RPF he was taking leftover material home to scare animals out of fields, according to Amar Ujala. In the Bhaskar account the passenger says the flames rose near the alarm-chain cover at seat 67. A forensic and technical inquiry is under way and a final cause has not been announced.

Case and follow-up

An FIR was registered by the RPF (the Dhampur RPF post in one report, Moradabad RPF in another) for negligence and under railway law. Dainik Jagran (Moradabad) reports that the passenger was first let off on a bond, then taken off a train with help from Lucknow RPF, arrested on Saturday night and sent before the railway magistrate; Amar Ujala says he was challaned on Sunday. The Senior Divisional Commercial Manager said the railway suffered no loss and only a seat was burnt. We do not name the passenger or any family member, and the charge is not proven.

Why this matters

A sleeper coach at night has closed windows, bags piled on upper berths, blankets and many sleeping people. Fire spreads to bedding in minutes, and smoke does the harm first. Diwali travel adds one more danger: cracker material in luggage. Our guide to Diwali firecracker safety and the note on festival fire safety explain why such material is dangerous even at home, let alone in a crowded coach. The same principle runs through our guide to buses, trains and metros. A charging-socket fault, the first explanation given here, is also a real cause of fires; see power bank and charging safety and small electrical faults that cause big fires.

Lessons for readers

• Never carry firecrackers, sulphur, potash, fuel or any other flammable item on a train. It endangers everyone in the coach, and the railway has registered a case here. Leftover material is better not carried at all.
• Keep bags with unknown contents away from your berth and where you can reach them. If you smell smoke or burning, tell the guard or pull the alarm chain at once.
• Pulling the chain worked here. The train stopped at a crossing where the fire brigade could reach within minutes.
• Know where the extinguisher is when you board, and read our guide to using an extinguisher with the PASS method. Leave the burning cabin first; fight only a small fire.
• Do not jump onto the track side if another train may pass. Several passengers jumped down in the dark with luggage and some were hurt (Amar Ujala). Our note on railway level crossings explains the danger near crossings.
• Burns: cool the burn under running water for 20 minutes and go to a hospital; see our first aid guide. Call 112 or 101; see our emergency numbers guide.

More on Bijnor: see our fire and emergency safety guide for emergency numbers, the fire stations and the local risks to know.

What is still not known

The final cause, the exact number injured, the true time of the fire (10.30 to 11.15 pm) and the time taken to put it out (10 to 30 minutes) differ between reports. We do not know the result of the forensic inquiry or the court action, or whether the railway will review how such material reached a reserved coach. Some live-event listings place this fire near Jalandhar; every report we opened places it at Nagina, Bijnor. We will update this page when the inquiry reports. Last checked 26 October 2026.