THE TIMES OF INDIA, THE HINDU, HINDUSTAN TIMES (India)
A fire on a passenger train in southern India has killed at least 47 people in the early hours of Monday morning.
The fire broke out at around 4:30am on a train travelling from Delhi to Chennai, when passing through Nellore in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The Times of India reported that a short circuit may have been the cause of the fire.
Nellore district collector Sridhar told the newspaper: “The fire spread fast and the passengers could not come out through one of the doors because of the fire. So the other edge of the coach was to be used. Some people could come out and others succumbed to death.”
The fire was put out at 5:20am and remaining injured passengers have been rushed to nearby hospitals, The Hindu reported.
The fire came at a time when seven states in the north of India faced the worst blackout in a decade with 300 million people affected.
A disturbance in the northern grid in the early hours on Monday left millions of stranded commuters in sweltering conditions.
Status of trains in North India during power outage: “Indefinite Late” twitter.com/nytindia/statu…
— New York Times India (@nytindia) July 30, 2012
Power is now being gradually restored, with the Delhi metro now running.
Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told a press conference: “It took four days to restore power in America… our power grid is very good,” making reference to the 2003 blackout in the United States.
Mr Shinde said he has appointed a committee to inquire into the causes of the power failure.