Islamabad: At least 67 passengers were charred to death and many more injured when a train from Karachi to Rawalpindi caught fire in Pakistan’s east Punjab province on Thursday.
According to reports, the passenger train, Tezgam, caught fire near the city area of Liaquatpur, a Pakistan Railways official confirmed. The fire was caused when a gas cylinder being carried by a passenger exploded, he said.
Reports said that the passengers were cooking breakfast when the blast occurred that triggered fire which spread to six coaches that were engulfed in the raging fire.
The fire destroyed six of the train carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class.
Pakistan Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed said, “Two cooking stoves blew up. They were cooking, they had (cooking) oil which added fuel to fire.”
“Most deaths occurred when people jumped off the train,” he said.
He added, men from a “Tableeghi Jammat” were travelling in the carriage where the incident occurred. “Bogies were severely damaged by the fire and they have been detached from the rest of the train,” he said.
This is the second major train accident in Pakistan this year. In July, 24 people were killed, when the Akbar Bugti Express travelling from Lahore to Quetta collided with a stationary freight train at the Walhar Railway Station in Sadiqabad Tehsil of Punjab province.