Sonada Railway station on fire

The Sonada railway station on the picturesque Darjeeling Himalayan Railway through which the toy train passes twice day was gutted in a major fire today in Darjeeling district with sabotage being suspected.

The fire originated in the station master's room at around 2:30 pm and spread rapidly leading a major portion of the railway station to collapse, police sources said.

A couple of houses adjacent to the station, 18 km from here, also collapsed, the sources said. 

Five fire tenders were sent to the station and it was now under control, fire brigade sources said.

They said that a short-circuit could have caused the fire.

Police sources said, however, that the fire could be the result of sabotage.

Guwahati-based S Hajing, the PRO of the NF Railway, under which the DHR falls, said that the fire destroyed a major portion of the station.

Asked if sabotage was the cause of the blaze, he replied that he was going for an inspection of the fire ravaged station and would not be able to comment now.

Source: business-standard.com/