Suspected Terrorist Attack Kills 66 on Train in India

A fire caused by a suspected terror attack killed 66 people and injured many others on a train in northern India bound for Pakistan, police and railway officials said Monday.

Two coaches of the Samjhauta Express were destroyed by the fire, which broke out around midnight Sunday when the train was near Panipat in Haryana State, about 100 kilometers north of New Delhi.

According to Pakistan Railway officials, 757 people were traveling on the train and a majority of them were Pakistani nationals returning home after visiting relatives in India.

No tally has yet been released on how many of the victims were Pakistanis and Indians, but reports said most were Pakistanis.

On Monday the rest of the train continued to the border town of Attari, according to Reuters news service. Passengers were due to get off there and transfer to a Pakistani train.

Northern Railway General Manger V.N. Mathur said two unexploded bombs in suitcases were found on the train. "From this evidence we deduce that this was a clear case of sabotage," he said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said the government will "make every effort to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous act."

Like all Indian trains, most of the windows in the lower class compartments were barred with metal rods, meaning many people were trapped inside the train, according to Reuters.

A railway police force official speaking on condition of anonymity told Kyodo News that one person had been detained for questioning.

Kamruddin, 60, from Pakistan, who was badly injured in the fire, told Kyodo News he heard a loud explosion and soon a chaotic scene enveloped the coach as people started pushing each other.

He said he could only remember a young man saving his life by pulling him out of the train.

Kamruddin said he had no clue about the whereabouts of his relatives who were traveling with him.

In Pakistan, the government condemned the blaze as "an act of terrorism."

"We hope the Indian government will give us a report soon of what has happened. We will wait for the inquiry report by India," Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri told a press conference.

Kasuri, who is scheduled to travel to New Delhi for talks with Indian leaders on pushing ahead the peace process, said he would go ahead with the trip.

"I do not think the governments of India and Pakistan would, should not allow this incident or the perpetrators of the incident to achieve their objective," he said.

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