At least nine people died in southern India on Saturday after a fire broke out in a parked train carriage while someone inside was preparing tea, officials said.
The carriage, which had become detached from the train, was parked at the Madurai marshalling yard in the southern state of Tamil Nadu when the fire broke out before dawn on Saturday.
“It was a single parked train, booked by a private tour operator. Someone tried to prepare tea and it caused a fire,” Madurai district spokesperson Sali Thalapathi told AFP.
“Nine people died, including three women. “Nine other people were injured, but their lives are not in danger,” he added, noting that none of the bodies had been identified.
According to local media, a gas cylinder was illegally brought on board the plane and exploded.
India, with one of the world’s largest rail networks, has experienced numerous disasters, the worst of which occurred in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in the state of Bihar before plunging into a river below, killing 800 people. Last June, a collision involving three trains killed nearly 300 people in Odisha state.
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