At least 66 people died in the attack on a train heading from India to Pakistan on Monday.
The explosions caused a fire that engulfed two carriages of the Samjhauta Express, also known as the "Friendship Express," which links the two countries. The blaze broke out at around midnight local time and it is thought that there were over 700 people onboard at the time. The official death toll is 66 but authorities warn that the number could rise.
The explosions occured when the train was passing the village of Dewana, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of New Delhi. As on many Indian trains, the windows were barred on the carriages, and investigators say that at least one of the doors was fused shut by the heat, trapping passengers inside. People who lived near the track rushed to help put out the fire. The blaze was eventually extinguished after the fire trucks arrived.
According to the Indian police, two other suitcases packed with unexploded crude bombs and bottles of gasoline were found in train cars not hit in the attack. An electronic timer was packed in the case next to a bag of yellow sulphur and a dozen or more plastic bottles containing a cocktail of fuel oils and chemicals. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet though speculation is centering around Islamist terrorists.
The Indian Transport Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav described the attack as "an act of sabotage –- an act of terrorism like the one in Mumbai" referring to the bomb blasts in Mumbai in July 2006 that killed 186 people. Yadav said "this is an attempt to derail the improving relationship between India and Pakistan." Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan: "We will not allow elements which want to sabotage the ongoing peace process and succeed in their nefarious designs."
The Samjhauta Express travels twice a week from the Indian capital New Delhi to Attari on the border and then on to Lahore in Pakistan. The link had been closed down after an attack on the Indian parliament in late 2001, which almost caused a war between the two countries. Relations between India and Pakistan have begun to thaw in recent years and the reopening of the Samjhauta link in 2004 was seen as a sign of improved relations.
The main point of dispute between the two countries, which both have nuclear weapons, focuses on Kashmir -- the largely Muslim Himalayan region divided between the two countries and claimed by both.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri is due to arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday for talks on the ongoing peace process. Kasuri condemned the attacks as "a horrendous act of terrorism" and insisted he would be going ahead with his trip. He told reporters in Islamabad that the bombers should not be allowed to achieve their objective. "In fact," he added. "We should hasten the peace process."
smd/ap/reuters
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