Early Saturday morning, an express train in India engulfed into flames near the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The Bangalore-Nanded express train was carrying 60 passengers, many who were traveling home for the holidays. Eight were injured where as 26 casualties were reported.
Most of those traveling were asleep at the time of the fire.
Railway official Sunanda Arun told CNN that the fire started in B1 train compartment around 3:51 a.m.
In an attempt to survive, there were passengers who broke windows and jumped out of the coach.
The coach was delinked from the rest of the cars to avoid further spreading, although one other car did catch on fire but was put out in enough time.
In an AP report “Firefighters had to force the doors open and make their way through the smoke-filled coach to reach the dead.”
According to S. Senthil Kumar, chief of police of Anantapur, the “bodies were charred beyond recognition.”
The bodies were still inspected by medical examiners to determine identification.
India’s railway system is one of the largest networks in the world. While serving millions of passengers daily, it holds a bad reputation for poor maintenance and constitutes a disregard for repairs.
An electrical short-circuit was said to be the reason to why the fire broke out. However, the cause of this tragic event is still being investigated.