Train fire in eastern India kills 7, injures 30

[News_Editor]

Train fire in eastern India kills 7, injures 30

2011-11-23 07:05:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

RANCHI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- Seven people were killed on early Tuesday morning when two railroad cars caught fire in eastern India, officials said. Dozens more were injured in what may have been a deliberate attack.

The incident happened at around 2.30 a.m. local time on Tuesday when two cars of the Howrah-Dehradun Express train caught fire between the Nimiyaghat and Parasnath railway stations in the Giridih district of Jharkhand state.

D Parwa Lakra, deputy commissioner of Giridih, told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) that four of the seven bodies have so far been identified. Among the fatalities are two young children and one Australian woman. At least 30 people were injured, including three Australian tourists.

"We rushed to the spot after hearing the cries of the people," Ramesh, a local villager, told IANS. "One woman was crying to save her girl. Three or four people tried to enter the coaches but couldn't due to dense smoke emanating from the fire."

Initial reports indicated that a cylinder may have caused the fire, but one of the Australian tourists told NDTV that she saw a man pouring petrol near the train before the fire broke out. Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi said he could not rule out an attack.

"Let us wait for the inquiry report," Trivedi said, as quoted by the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. "Involvement of miscreants cannot be ruled out at this stage. But I am not speculating anything. According to the initial report, a person came with some smelly substance, then smoke came out."

India's railroad network is the fourth largest in the world and carries more than 14 million passengers and over a million tonnes of freight daily. But accidents are common, mainly as a result of poor maintenance and human error.

On September 13, ten people were killed and more than 70 others were injured when an Electric Multiple Unit train collided with another passenger train which was waiting for a signal in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

And in July, a total of 70 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured when a passenger train bound for the Indian capital of New Delhi derailed in Uttar Pradesh state. Just hours later, another passenger train derailed in western Assam state, injuring around 50 people.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-11-23