Over 70 killed in Pakistan train fire

A fire broke out on a train in Pakistan on Thursday when a gas canister passengers were using to cook breakfast exploded, killing at least 73 people and injuring scores of others, local Geo News reported citing district officials.

The fire destroyed three of the train's carriages – two economy class carriages and one business class – near the town of Rahim Yar Khan in the south of Punjab Province.

"Two cooking stoves blew up. They were cooking, they had (cooking) oil which added fuel to fire," Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Geo Television.

"Most deaths occurred from people jumping off the train," he added.

The train was bound from Karachi to Rawalpindi.

There are believed more than 200 passengers aboard when the fire erupted. 

Baqir Husain, the head of the district rescue service, said the death toll could rise.

Officials said the fire had been extinguished, and cooling efforts were underway, and the train track will be functional in hours.

The Pakistan army has also sent troops, including doctors and paramedics, for the rescue and relief operation, as well as helicopters to lift the injured from the site.

Following the accident, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed condolences to the victims and ordered the provision of the best medical treatment for the injured.

It has become a common problem as passengers sneak stoves onto trains to prepare meals on long journeys, the minister said.

Pakistan's colonial-era railway network has fallen into disrepair in recent decades due to chronic under-investment and poor maintenance.

Eleven people were killed in an accident in July and four in another accident in September.

About 130 people were killed in 2005 when a train rammed into another at a station in Sindh province, and a third train hit the wreckage.

(With input from Reuters)