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| Indian security forces on highest alert | | Bomb blasts kill 66 in Samjhauta Express fire | | NEW DELHI | FEB 19
At least 66 people have been killed in a fire on Samjhauta Express in the northern State of Haryana midnight on Sunday. The number of wounded has been put at 75. Two bombs exploded aboard the train bound from India to Pakistan, sparking a fire that killed at least 66 passengers in what the government of India called an "act of terrorism".
Most of the victims were Pakistanis but included some Indians and three railway policemen, said officials who described the attack as an apparent attempt to undermine the peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals. Two other unexploded suitcase bombs were also found on the train, one of them still lying by the side of the track the morning after the blast.
An electronic timer encased in clear plastic was packed in the case next to a bag of yellow sulphur and a dozen or more plastic bottles containing what police said was a cocktail of fuel oils and chemicals. Police said that while the explosions were small, they were apparently intended to cause fires on at least four of the train's coaches.
The fire was the product of the use of explosives by unknown terrorists. Two carriages of the train have been completely destroyed as a result of the fire. The train was on its way from Delhi to Lahore in Pakistan via the border crossing point of Wagah. Five unexploded bombs have also been recovered from the train. Several people with burns have been pulled from the carriages.
A senior Indian railway official said that the incident was suspected to be an act of sabotage. "It appears to be a case of sabotage. We have found two suitcases, there were IEDs in them", BN Mathur, a top railway official, told reporters referring to improvised explosive devices.
Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav, said , before he left for Panipat, that two suitcases containing IEDs have been recovered from the site of the incident. Condemning the incident, he said that it was an attempt to derail the improving relations between India and Pakistan. "It was an attempt to derail the improving ties between the two countries", he said adding: "I do not rule out sabotage since IEDs have been found".
The unaffected coaches, numbering 8, of the Samjhauta Express between Delhi and Lahore were on Monday allowed to resume their onward journey to Atari, the last station on the Indian side, 25 km ahead of Amritsar. The train was thoroughly searched before being allowed permission to proceed.
Indian security forces went on their highest security alert and paramilitary troops were posted at railway stations after 66 people died in blasts aboard a train to Pakistan, officials said. Authorities sent in police reinforcements and paramilitary troops to the five stations in the Indian capital after the attack on the "Samjhauta Express" near the northern city of Panipat, a police spokesman told EARLY TIMES.
India's state-run railways also went on a "red alert" posting paramilitary forces at stations across northern India.
A spokesman for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said that troops also climbed aboard New Delhi's packed local train services after explosives were used to attack the Pakistan bound train.
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