Attack feared in train fire; 64 are killed
A train traveling to Pakistan caught fire early today in northern India, killing at least 64 people, and officials said two suitcases filled with flammable material that appeared to be explosive devices were found at the scene.
V.N. Mathur, general manager of the Northern Railway, said one of the suitcases was found inside a burned train car and the other was on the railroad track.
Though investigators had yet to confirm the fire was the result of an attack, India’s top railway official blamed Muslim militants bent on harming relations between longtime rivals India and Pakistan.
The fire broke out just before the train reached the station in the village of Deewana, about 50 miles north of New Delhi. Mathur said that at least 30 passengers injured in the blaze had been hospitalized in the nearby town of Panipat.
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