This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
On Thursday, a gas explosion ripped through a train in Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of 71 people and injuring around 43 others.
The train, which was traveling from Karachi to Rawalpindi, was carrying many passengers who were headed to a religious conference organized by the Tablighi Jamaat Sunni Muslim missionary movement.
According to Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the fire was caused by two stoves exploding when people were cooking breakfast, with the presence of kerosene among the passengers exacerbating the situation and leading to most of the deaths occurring from people jumping off the train.
Television pictures showed fire and black smoke pouring from the train's windows after it came to a stop on a stretch of line flanked by fields, as reported by Reuters.
Survivors recounted that it took the train nearly 20 minutes to come to a halt after the fire broke out, with passengers screaming for help, as reported by the Star Tribune.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered investigations into the incident, which comes just months after two previous accidents in July and September resulted in the deaths of 11 and 4 people, respectively.
Additionally, a similar tragedy occurred in 2005, when around 130 people died in a train collision in Sindh province.
