NEW DELHI - A fire engulfed two coaches of an express train in southern India early today, killing at least 23 passengers, many of whom became trapped and suffocated after the doors failed to open, officials said.
As the inferno and thick black smoke raced through the two cars at 3:45 a.m., panicked passengers broke the windows and many saved themselves by jumping from the train.
A spokesman for the railways, C.S. Gupta, said 67 passengers were in the two cars when the fire broke out about 1 mile from the small town of Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh state.
India’s federal Railways Minister Mallikarjun Khargesaid that preliminary reports from the site indicated that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit.
An investigation was underway.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/28/2013