At least 65 people have died in a fire on a train in Pakistan after a gas canister being used to cook food exploded.
Officials have said there are many people injured, some in a critical condition.
The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages near the town of Liaquatpur in Pakistan’s eastern province.
Several of the injured had jumped off the train, many to their deaths, after the fire broke out.
Minister for Railways, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, said some of the passengers were trying to prepare breakfast on the stove as the train was moving, violating railway rules.
He told Geo TV: “Two cooking stoves blew up. They were cooking, they had (cooking) oil which added fuel to fire.”
“Most deaths occurred from people jumping off the train,” he added.
Mr Ahmed said that poor passengers often bring their own small gas stoves on the trains to cook their meals, despite the rules.
Media reports suggested that railway officials did not notice passengers carrying individual gas stoves onto the train. However, safety regulations are often ignored on overcrowded trains.
At least 31 passengers were also injured in the accident.
TV footage from the scene showed the flames raging through the train as firefighters struggled to get it under control.
Another train has been dispatched to bring other passengers on the affected train to the city of Rawalpindi.
An official told reporters that the medical staff were providing the best possible treatment for the injured at a hospital in Liaquatpur.
The critically injured are being taken in ambulances to the city of Multan, which is the largest city nearest to the site of the accident.
Rescue workers searched the charred wreckage for survivors and aided the injured through the morning.
Authorities said they were still trying to identify the victims.
Mr Ahmed said the train had been traveling from the southern port city of Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province, to the city of Rawalpindi when the fire broke out .
Pakistan’s military said troops were also participating in the rescue operation.
President Arif Albi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have issued statements expressing their grief over the accident. It is the latest tragedy to hit the country’s dilapidated and poorly maintained rail system. Eleven people were killed in an accident in July and four in another accident in September.
In 2005, around 130 people were killed when a train rammed into another at a station in Sindh province, and a third train hit the wreckage.
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