This viral video of an Amritsar–Saharsa Express coach catching fire is from October 2025, not January 2026

A video (here, here, here and here) showing a train coach on fire with rescue crews trying to extinguish the blaze is going viral on social media with the claim that it happened on the Garib Rath Express from Ludhiana to Delhi on 1 January 2026. Let’s find the truth behind this video.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The viral video shows a Garib Rath train catching fire on the Ludhiana–Delhi route on 1 January 2026.

Fact: The incident is not from January 2026. News reports confirm that the fire occurred in Amritsar–Saharsa Express (Garib Rath) on 18 October 2025 near Sirhind station in Punjab due to a suspected short circuit. Passengers were safely evacuated and no casualties were reported. Hence, the claim is MISLEADING.

To verify the claim, we first conducted a keyword search to check whether any such incident occurred on 1 January 2026, but found no credible reports supporting it. We then performed a reverse image search on Google, which led us to the same visuals uploaded by multiple social media accounts (here, here and here) all stating that the incident took place in October 2025, not in January 2026 as claimed.

Further search results led us to news reports on YouTube from October 2025 featuring the same visuals (here, here and here). These reports stated that a fire had broken out in a coach of the Garib Rath Express travelling from Ludhiana to Delhi, and that due to the alertness of railway staff and passengers, everyone was safely evacuated with no casualties.

Further research led us to news reports featuring the viral visuals (here, here and here). According to these reports, this major incident occurred on the morning of 18 October 2025 on the day of Dhanteras. As the train approached Sirhind station in Punjab, a massive fire broke out in coach number 19 of train number 12204 Amritsar–Saharsa Express (Garib Rath). The reports stated that the fire was caused by a short circuit. The loco pilot acted promptly by applying emergency brakes, allowing passengers in the affected coach to immediately disembark with their belongings. These reports confirm that the incident took place on 18 October 2025, not in January 2026 as claimed in social media posts.

To sum up, this viral video of an Amritsar–Saharsa Express coach catching fire is from October 2025, not January 2026.