Kolkata metro fire: 16 passengers fall ill after smoke fills coaches; services temporarily suspended, hundreds stranded

At least 16 passengers were taken ill after smoke was detected inside an air-conditioned coach of the Kolkata Metro on Thursday, officials told PTI.According to the news agency, smoke was seen coming out of the Dum Dum-bound metro rake soon after it left the Maidan station.[caption id="attachment_5801421" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Kolkata Metro rail services suspended following an incident of fire on Thursday. ANI[/caption]"A lot of smoke was seen as soon as the train left the platform. We understood since there is smoke, there must be fire somewhere," Metro Railway CPRO Indrani Banerjee said."We switched off the power connection and took up efforts to douse the fire. We have rescued all the passengers and there has been no casualty," she added.Quoting Kolkata Metro rail, ANI said that the fire has been put off by the Kolkata Metro rail staff and West Bengal Fire Service and Kolkata Police Disaster Management group are attending it.Aparajita Rai, Additional Deputy Commissioner on Kolkata metro fire told ANI that there are no casualties."Sixteen people have been injured, and all have been taken to SSKM Medical College. It was an accident, there was a small spark in the front portion of the metro," she said.An NDTV report said that the fire was reported from between Rabindra Sadan and Maidan stations.Metro services have been temporarily suspended.With inputs from agencies