February 19, 2007DEWANA, India -- Two bombs exploded on a train headed for Pakistan, sparking a fire that killed at least 66 people, in an attack officials said today was aimed at undermining the peace process between India and Pakistan. Dozens more people were injured.Some panic-stricken passengers remained trapped for about 30 minutes in the blazing carriage, as it came to a stop just before midnight Sunday in a rural area near Dewana in northern India. Their screams filled the night until they were drowned out by the roar of the flames.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared "India's abhorrence for this heinous terrorist act," and expressed his condolences to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for the large number of Pakistani victims, a statement from his office said.India will do "everything possible to ensure that its perpetrators are punished," it said.Most of the victims, officials said, were Pakistanis, using one of only two rail links between the neighboring rivals."This is an attempt to derail the improving relationship between India and Pakistan, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad told reporters.Witnesses described a scene of horror as the train slowed to a halt on an isolated stretch of railway line. As on most Indian trains, the windows of many cars are barred for security reasons, sealing in many survivors, and officials said at least one train door was fused shut by the intense heat."We couldn't save anyone," said Rajinder Prasad, a laborer living near the tracks who raced with his neighbors to the scene, scooping water from a reservoir and throwing it at flames that shot high above the carriages. "They were screaming inside, but no one could get out."Eventually, he said, the screaming stopped.Authorities say two suitcases packed with crude unexploded bombs and bottles of gasoline were found in undamaged train cars, indicating the fire had been sparked by similar devices.A Home Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said no suspects had been ruled out -- from Kashmiri separatists to Hindu extremists.There was no immediate sign of a diplomatic breakdown.Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said leaders in both countries should move forward with peace efforts."We will not allow elements which want to sabotage the ongoing peace process and succeed in their nefarious designs," he was quoted as saying by state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.India's junior home minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said the bombs were intended only to start a fire and were timed to explode ahead of the arrival Tuesday of Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri in New Delhi.Speaking to CNN-IBN television, Kasuri called the attack a "terrible act of terrorism" and said "the peace process must go on with greater vigor and greater determination."Navtej Sarna, spokesman for India's foreign ministry, said officials from Pakistan's high commission were heading to the scene of the blasts."The entire process is being carried out in cooperation with Pakistani authorities," he told reporters, adding that visas would be issued quickly for Pakistani relatives of the dead and injured.The fire engulfed two coaches of the Samjhauta Express.The blaze broke out just before the train reached the village of Dewana, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of New Delhi, said Babu Lal, a railway worker who heard the explosions that apparently sparked the flames.The fire spread quickly as the train kept moving."I saw flames leaping out of the windows," said Vinod Kumar Gupta, the assistant station manager in Dewana.
Gupta ran to pull the signal ordering the train to stop. The train -- which normally races through this region at about 90-100 kilometers (55-60 miles) per hour -- took another five minutes to halt in nearby countryside, Kumar said."From the less damaged coach, some people were seen jumping out with their bodies on fire," Bharti Arora, a Haryana state railway police official, told reporters.But in the rear coach, where the flames were more intense, few escaped.Some people remained alive in the flaming carriages for nearly half an hour after the first explosion, said Rakesh Gautam, a reporter with the Hindi-language newspaper, Dainik Jagran, and one of the first people to arrive at the scene."Inside you could see trapped people trying to break windows, but after a while the train got so hot that the efforts stopped," he said.V. N. Mathur, general manager of the Northern Railway, said many passengers apparently were trapped by their own terror."If you're sleeping: getting up, getting to the door, having the presence of mind to unlock it -- it's difficult," said Mathur, who confirmed there had been two explosions.Fire engines arrived about 45 minutes later, but it was another two hours before the flames were extinguished.Arora put the death toll at 66. At least 30 passengers were hospitalized, officials said, with a dozen critically injured people brought to New Delhi.The train was traveling from New Delhi to Atari, the last railroad station before the Pakistan border. At Atari, passengers switch to a Pakistani train that takes them to Lahore, Pakistan.Frantic relatives flocked to New Delhi's main railway station. But there was only a handwritten list on a bulletin board with the names of 13 injured people and one identified corpse.Mohammed Wasim Khan, who had left his uncle and two young nephews at the station late Sunday, said railway officials brusquely told him to take a train to the scene of the blast if he wanted more information.Within hours of the fire, authorities detached the burned coaches and the rest of the train left for the border.The New Delhi-Lahore train link was suspended after a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament that India blamed on Pakistan and which nearly led to a war between the two.Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have warmed in recent years, and the train service -- restarted in 2004 -- is one of the most visible results of the peace process.Their enmity focuses on Kashmir, a largely Muslim Himalayan region divided between them but claimed by both. More than a dozen militant groups have been fighting in Indian Kashmir for nearly two decades, seeking the region's independence or its merger with predominantly Islamic Pakistan. More than 68,000 people have died.Today's blaze revived memories of earlier train bombings, including an attack last July in Mumbai that killed more than 200 people. Police blamed those attacks on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group, as well as the Students' Islamic Movement of India, a banned Indian group. Indian officials alleged Pakistani intelligence was also involved, but Pakistan denies that.In 2002, Hindu-Muslim riots broke out after a train fire killed 60 Hindus returning from a pilgrimage. Muslims were blamed for the fire, and more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs.About 84 percent of India's more than 1 billion people are Hindu. Muslims account for about 14 percent.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared "India's abhorrence for this heinous terrorist act," and expressed his condolences to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz for the large number of Pakistani victims, a statement from his office said.India will do "everything possible to ensure that its perpetrators are punished," it said.Most of the victims, officials said, were Pakistanis, using one of only two rail links between the neighboring rivals."This is an attempt to derail the improving relationship between India and Pakistan, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad told reporters.Witnesses described a scene of horror as the train slowed to a halt on an isolated stretch of railway line. As on most Indian trains, the windows of many cars are barred for security reasons, sealing in many survivors, and officials said at least one train door was fused shut by the intense heat."We couldn't save anyone," said Rajinder Prasad, a laborer living near the tracks who raced with his neighbors to the scene, scooping water from a reservoir and throwing it at flames that shot high above the carriages. "They were screaming inside, but no one could get out."Eventually, he said, the screaming stopped.Authorities say two suitcases packed with crude unexploded bombs and bottles of gasoline were found in undamaged train cars, indicating the fire had been sparked by similar devices.A Home Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said no suspects had been ruled out -- from Kashmiri separatists to Hindu extremists.There was no immediate sign of a diplomatic breakdown.Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said leaders in both countries should move forward with peace efforts."We will not allow elements which want to sabotage the ongoing peace process and succeed in their nefarious designs," he was quoted as saying by state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.India's junior home minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal, said the bombs were intended only to start a fire and were timed to explode ahead of the arrival Tuesday of Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri in New Delhi.Speaking to CNN-IBN television, Kasuri called the attack a "terrible act of terrorism" and said "the peace process must go on with greater vigor and greater determination."Navtej Sarna, spokesman for India's foreign ministry, said officials from Pakistan's high commission were heading to the scene of the blasts."The entire process is being carried out in cooperation with Pakistani authorities," he told reporters, adding that visas would be issued quickly for Pakistani relatives of the dead and injured.The fire engulfed two coaches of the Samjhauta Express.The blaze broke out just before the train reached the village of Dewana, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of New Delhi, said Babu Lal, a railway worker who heard the explosions that apparently sparked the flames.The fire spread quickly as the train kept moving."I saw flames leaping out of the windows," said Vinod Kumar Gupta, the assistant station manager in Dewana.
Gupta ran to pull the signal ordering the train to stop. The train -- which normally races through this region at about 90-100 kilometers (55-60 miles) per hour -- took another five minutes to halt in nearby countryside, Kumar said."From the less damaged coach, some people were seen jumping out with their bodies on fire," Bharti Arora, a Haryana state railway police official, told reporters.But in the rear coach, where the flames were more intense, few escaped.Some people remained alive in the flaming carriages for nearly half an hour after the first explosion, said Rakesh Gautam, a reporter with the Hindi-language newspaper, Dainik Jagran, and one of the first people to arrive at the scene."Inside you could see trapped people trying to break windows, but after a while the train got so hot that the efforts stopped," he said.V. N. Mathur, general manager of the Northern Railway, said many passengers apparently were trapped by their own terror."If you're sleeping: getting up, getting to the door, having the presence of mind to unlock it -- it's difficult," said Mathur, who confirmed there had been two explosions.Fire engines arrived about 45 minutes later, but it was another two hours before the flames were extinguished.Arora put the death toll at 66. At least 30 passengers were hospitalized, officials said, with a dozen critically injured people brought to New Delhi.The train was traveling from New Delhi to Atari, the last railroad station before the Pakistan border. At Atari, passengers switch to a Pakistani train that takes them to Lahore, Pakistan.Frantic relatives flocked to New Delhi's main railway station. But there was only a handwritten list on a bulletin board with the names of 13 injured people and one identified corpse.Mohammed Wasim Khan, who had left his uncle and two young nephews at the station late Sunday, said railway officials brusquely told him to take a train to the scene of the blast if he wanted more information.Within hours of the fire, authorities detached the burned coaches and the rest of the train left for the border.The New Delhi-Lahore train link was suspended after a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament that India blamed on Pakistan and which nearly led to a war between the two.Relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors have warmed in recent years, and the train service -- restarted in 2004 -- is one of the most visible results of the peace process.Their enmity focuses on Kashmir, a largely Muslim Himalayan region divided between them but claimed by both. More than a dozen militant groups have been fighting in Indian Kashmir for nearly two decades, seeking the region's independence or its merger with predominantly Islamic Pakistan. More than 68,000 people have died.Today's blaze revived memories of earlier train bombings, including an attack last July in Mumbai that killed more than 200 people. Police blamed those attacks on Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group, as well as the Students' Islamic Movement of India, a banned Indian group. Indian officials alleged Pakistani intelligence was also involved, but Pakistan denies that.In 2002, Hindu-Muslim riots broke out after a train fire killed 60 Hindus returning from a pilgrimage. Muslims were blamed for the fire, and more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed by Hindu mobs.About 84 percent of India's more than 1 billion people are Hindu. Muslims account for about 14 percent.
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