Fire at CR's wagon workshop; cables gutted, none hurt

A fire gutted mobile charging cables kept in a wagon workshop of the Central Railway (CR) in Matunga here Friday, but no casualty was reported, an official said.

The fire broke out at the more than 100-year-old Carriage and Wagon Workshop of the CR this afternoon, he said, adding no one was injured in the incident.

"The fire erupted in the workshop at around 2.40 pm and fire brigade personnel arrived in a few minutes and it was extinguished by 3.30 pm," the official said.

Mobile charging cables belonging to a private contractor and kept in the workshop were destroyed, he said.

When contacted, a senior workshop official said an investigation has been launched to ascertain the cause of the blaze.

Meanwhile, a lady reporter from a news channel alleged she was stopped from covering the fire and manhandled by workshop staffers.

A CR spokesperson said the workshop is a restricted area where outsiders are not allowed.

"However, we will look into the allegation (of manhandling) and suitable action will be taken against those found guilty," he said.

The facility was set up in 1915 as a repair workshop for broad gauge and narrow gauge coaches and wagons of the erstwhile Great Indian Peninsula (GIP) Railway.