Pakistan: 70 dead after gas cylinder fire on train
The train was passing through the Punjab city of Rahim Yar Khan on Thursday morning when the cylinder exploded, causing a fire which spread through the train, according to local police officer Amir Taimoor. ]]]]>]]>Seventy people are dead and another 30 are injured, said Nadeem Zia, the medical supervisor of District Headquarters Hospital in Liaquatpur, a city in Rahim Yar Khan district.Earlier, Taimoor said that around a dozen people are critically injured. Army troops, paramedics, and an army aviation helicopter are currently on site.Although gas cylinders are banned on trains, passengers were using gas-powered cookers to prepare breakfast inside the train carriage when the explosion occurred, Taimoor added. He added that many of the people on board the train were heading to a protest in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) from Rahim Yar Khan.The train was running on the Tezgam line, a daily service that goes from the coastal city of Karachi to the northern city of Rawalpindi.CNN’s Sophia Saifi contributed to this report from Islamabad.
