70 killed in fire on train in Pakistan


At least 70 people were killed in a fire on a train in Pakistan early Thursday, reports CNN. Another 30 people were injured. The flames spread quickly after a gas canister exploded as the train passed through the city of Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab, local police officer Amir Taimoor said.
It was the worst disaster in 15 years for the country's accident-plagued rail network. Gas canisters are banned on Pakistan trains, but passengers were using gas-powered stoves in a carriage. "Two stoves blew up when people were cooking breakfast," Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Geo television, per Reuters. "The presence of kerosene with the passengers in the moving train further spread the fire." Many passengers reportedly were heading to a protest in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital. Read more at CNN and Reuters.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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