Smoke in Vande Bharat train in Kerala

Kochi: The Vande Bharat Express from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod faced a technical issue on Wednesday morning when smoke emanated from one of its lavatories and spread to a nearby passenger cabin.

The smoke was a result of the activation of the inbuilt fire extinguisher in the lavatory, a Railway official said.

Whether it was triggered by someone smoking inside the lavatory or due to a technical glitch remains to be ascertained, the official said.

As a result, the train was stopped at Aluva near here for around 20 minutes till the issue was resolved and then resumed its journey at around 9.24 am, he said.

No passenger suffered any health problems due to the smoke, the official said, adding that any delay caused by the stoppage at Aluva would be covered up.

Visuals of the incident on TV channels showed white smoke in one of the passenger cabins of the train and people being moved out from there.