Mumbai: Nine passengers were reported dead and four others injured when three reserved coaches of Dehradun Express caught fire near Dahanu early this morning.

Eyewitnesses said, fire first broke out in the rear portion of S3 coach, and then it spread to S2 and S4 coaches.

Passengers who had shut the windows because of winter were suffocated as smoke spread through the coaches. Railway officials put the death toll at 6, but police officials said, nine persons have died so far.

The railway gateman posted between Dahanu Road and Gholwad was the first to spot the coaches on fire. He immediately alerted senior officials and the train was stopped.

One of those dead has been identified as Dev Shankar (Coach S4/ Berth 26) travelling between Bandra and Surat.

The 19019 Dehradun Express had left Bandra Terminus on Tuesday night, and the coaches caught fire at around 2:45 am.

The location is almost 170 km away from Mumbai. Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot to douse the blaze.

Passenger Identified as dead are:

1) Surendra Shah – M/68,  S/3-1  PNR-8219735509

2) Dipika Shah- F/65,  S/3-2 PNR-8219735509

3) Nasirkhan Ahmedkhan Pathan, M-50,  S/4 -4  PNR-8507354622

4) Devshankar Upadhyay, M/48,  S/4- 26 PNR-8120141890

Railway Minister has announced Rs 5 lakh each ex-gratia for the next of kin of those killed.

Railway Board chairman Arunendra Kumar said, the train driver and the guard acted in time by stopping the train and reduced the magnitude of casualties.

The three burnt coaches have been detached from the rest of the train, and the train will soon resume travel, he said.