A south-north train caught fire on Saturday while travelling across the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, blocking traffic on the national railway system for 30 minutes.

Scene of the fire on the train. 

Residents in the province’s Loc Dien Commune spotted the fire emitting from a car on the TN2, travelling on the south-north route. They then signalled for the train to stop.

The railway staff and locals helped extinguish the fire that had started in the last car of the train and damaged several others. 

A train manager said it was suspected the gas from the motorbikes on board had triggered the fire.

Due to the lack of extinguishing facilities, it took more than 30 minutes to douse the fire and unblock the traffic on the route. 

The railway sector has yet to calculate the loss from the halt in services. 

VNS