74 dead as gas cylinders explode on Pakistan train
Print Edition
At least 74 people were killed and dozens injured after cooking gas cylinders exploded on a train packed with pilgrims in Pakistan yesterday, some dying after leaping from carriages to escape the inferno, authorities said.
Television footage showed flames pouring out of three carriages as people could be heard crying during the incident, in a rural area of Punjab province.
Some of the passengers 鈥 many of whom were pilgrims traveling to one of Pakistan鈥檚 biggest religious gatherings 鈥 had been cooking breakfast when two of their gas cylinders exploded, according to Ali Nawaz, a senior Pakistan Railways official.
Many Pakistanis carry food on long train journeys but gas cylinders are supposedly banned. Pakistan鈥檚 railways minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed later told reporters that it had been a 鈥渕istake鈥 to allow the cylinders on board.
Dozens of people crowded along the tracks staring at the burning carriages, which had been disconnected from the rest of the train, television images showed.
Firefighters rushed to the scene near Rahim Yar Khan district. Rescue workers and soldiers could also be seen, as bodies were carried away covered in white sheets.
鈥淎 cylinder exploded and I don鈥檛 know how. Fire erupted everywhere,鈥 one survivor Muhammad Imran said in a hospital in Rahim Yar Khan.
鈥淚 jumped out of the train to save my life. There was a whole line of people behind me. They pushed,鈥 he said.
Muhammad Nadeem Zia, a medical superintendent at the hospital in Liaquatpur, the nearest town, said some of the victims were killed by head injuries sustained as they leapt from the moving train. At least 44 people had been injured.
Those hurt were being rushed to hospitals in the nearby city of Bahawalpur and elsewhere in Rahim Yar Khan district. Many of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.
Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was 鈥渄eeply saddened鈥 by the tragedy and had ordered an urgent inquiry.
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