INDIA:Sixty-six people, including women and children, died after two deadly blasts ripped through the Samjhauta Express train between India and Pakistan early yesterday morning.
Indian and Pakistani officials said the attack, for which no one has claimed responsibility, was aimed at derailing the nebulous peace process between the neighbouring nuclear rivals, but vowed they would not be defeated by it.
The Samjhauta Express, known as the Friendship Express, is one of two rail services operating between the south Asian neighbours. It resumed operations in 2004 as part of peace talks.
Forensic experts said explosives were used to ignite kerosene in the train carrying about 750 people. The blasts occurred near Deewana, 100km (62 miles) north of New Delhi at about midnight when most of the passengers were asleep.
Little was left of two rail carriages as a raging fire swept through them engulfing passengers, most of whom were Pakistanis returning home after visiting relatives in India.
"There was a massive bang followed by a huge fire and I saw smoke billowing out," said Pakistani Usman Ali. When I came out of the coach, I saw that nobody could escape as the doors of one carriage were tightly secured and the windows had bars across them."
Like all Indian trains, most windows in the lower-class compartments were barred with metal rods, trapping people inside. Eyewitnesses said passengers struggled desperately to get out.
"I was sitting towards the end of one of the two coaches when I heard a deafening sound a few feet away from me," said Kamaruddin one of 13 passengers who were severely injured. "Within seconds the entire carriage was full of smoke and I could hear a lot of people screaming for help, but I could not move."
At about dawn, 11 of the train's 16 carriages continued their journey northwards to the Pakistani border while five, including the two wrecked coaches - littered with burnt clothing, melted bangles and luggage - remained behind for forensic examination. Police said two other bombs had been defused and a dozen unexploded bottles were recovered from other carriages.
At Old Delhi station where the train started its journey on Sunday, relatives were angry at the lack of security that allowed the four suitcases packed with explosives to be placed on a train. "There were so many people here," said Mohammed Raziuddin (26), holding a photograph of the brother he had seen off at the station earlier, "but there was no checking and no security . . . there was no discipline."
All 66 bodies were moved to the morgue at the government hospital in the nearby industrial township of Panipat.
"It's very difficult to say who the victims were as many were just charred body parts brought in," police inspector Tekam Chand said. Fifty wooden coffins lined the boundary wall of the mortuary and trucks brought massive slabs of ice to preserve other bodies as they awaited postmortems.
A tearful Mohammad Wali Khan identified his uncle, Safiq Khan (70), by his passport and papers. His uncle had made the journey to India for the first time with his two children, son Harish (15) and daughter Sami (9), to meet his older brother. His children are in a critical state in hospital.
The blasts came on the eve of a visit by Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri to further the four-year peace process between the neighbours, who have fought three wars and an 11-week-long border skirmish since independence 60 years ago.
Pakistan's president Gen Pervez Musharraf called for a full investigation by the Indian authorities into the blasts, which he said would not undermine the peace effort. "Such wanton acts of terrorism will only serve to further strengthen our resolve to attain the mutually desired objective of sustainable peace between the two countries."
India's prime minister Manmohan Singh expressed "anguish and grief" at the loss of lives and promised that the culprits would be caught. - ( Additional reporting Reuters)