Chennai: A closed catering stall on platform No. 4 & 5 in Chennai Central railway station went up in flames on Tuesday, forcing security personnel to use hand-held fire extinguishers to douse the flames. According to eye-witnesses, the fire was noticed around 2 pm on Tuesday and the entire interior of Central station was filled with smoke because of the fire. No human casualties were reported in the fire but all goods in the stall were reduced to ashes.
Railway sources said the stall, licensed to CKK Moideen, was forced to close down by a divisional commercial manager without giving a 45-day written show-cause notice. Kan Iyer, general secretary, Indian Railway traveling passengers welfare association, said in a statement that the forced closure led to the fire accident.
“There are more than 300 unauthorised vendors on trains and platforms all over Chennai division but the DCM is not taking any action against them,” Kan Iyer said in the statement.
