Two persons are believed to have died when a parcel van and a sleeper coach of the Varanasi-bound Shiv Ganga Express caught fire near the Chandari Railway Station, around 10 km from the Kanpur Central Railway Station, early on Thursday morning. However, a major accident was averted.

While some reports said the two persons had died of suffocation, Railway authorities denied any deaths due to the fire. One of the dead was identified as Munni Lal Yadav of Allahabad, and officials claimed that he had died due to heart failure. The cause of the fire is not known and an inquiry has been ordered to determine the same. According to Railway officials, the New Delhi-Varanasi Shiv Ganga Express left the Kanpur station at around 3 am. As it was nearing the Chandari station, the parcel van caught fire.

Chief Public Relations Officer (NCR) Bagish Prasad Pandey said that as soon as the fire started, the guard informed the driver and the Chandari station. Six firefighting squads rushed to the site to control the flames.

A few trains on the Delhi-Howrah route were affected due to the fire. The rail traffic became normal by 7.30 am.