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| Fire Engulfs a Speeding Train in Pakistan, Killing Dozens | Fire Engulfs a Speeding Train in Pakistan, Killing Dozens |
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| ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At least 65 people were killed in central Pakistan on Thursday morning when a cooking stove being used aboard a train exploded, officials said. Witnesses said that some desperate passengers began jumping off the train while it was still moving. | |
| The train, known as the Tezgam Express, was on its run from the southern city of Karachi to the city of Rawalpindi when three cars caught fire around 6:30 a.m. near a railway station at Liaquat Pur, a city in the southern province of Punjab. | The train, known as the Tezgam Express, was on its run from the southern city of Karachi to the city of Rawalpindi when three cars caught fire around 6:30 a.m. near a railway station at Liaquat Pur, a city in the southern province of Punjab. |
| Officials said that some passengers had been preparing breakfast aboard the train, which is against regulations, when the gas cylinder fueling the stove exploded. The resulting fire quickly engulfed three cars full of passengers — two economy-class cars and one business-class car. | Officials said that some passengers had been preparing breakfast aboard the train, which is against regulations, when the gas cylinder fueling the stove exploded. The resulting fire quickly engulfed three cars full of passengers — two economy-class cars and one business-class car. |
| Uzma Bibi was on the train with 17 family members on their way to a wedding in the city of Lahore. They heard an explosion, she said, and looked out the windows to see flames starting to billow out from nearby cars. | |
| “There was panic, and everyone started shouting,” she said. “Seven people in our car jumped off to save their lives. We jumped off later, as soon as the train halted.” | |
| Zahir Chughtai said that some other passengers pulled the emergency rope to help bring the train to a halt when they saw people jumping. He saw people from nearby villages come rushing with water buckets to help, but that it was not enough to put out the flames. | |
| Many passengers in the economy cars belonged to Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic evangelical group, and were traveling to attend an annual congregation of the fraternity near Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab. | Many passengers in the economy cars belonged to Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic evangelical group, and were traveling to attend an annual congregation of the fraternity near Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab. |
| Officials said that some of the most severely burned survivors were being rushed north to Multan, a bigger city, for treatment. | Officials said that some of the most severely burned survivors were being rushed north to Multan, a bigger city, for treatment. |
| The state-owned Pakistan Railways system has been a constant source of accidents and scandals in recent years, with safety measures frequently going unheeded. But on Thursday, the country’s railways minister insisted that the rail system was not to blame for the deaths. | |
| “It is not the fault of Pakistan Railways,” Sheikh Rashid Rashid, Pakistan’s minister of railways, said of the deadly fire. “The passengers are responsible for this.” | |
| He added that an inquiry would be carried out to see why passengers had been able to bring gas cylinders on the train. | He added that an inquiry would be carried out to see why passengers had been able to bring gas cylinders on the train. |
| Quratul Ain Asim contributed reporting from Multan, Pakistan. | |