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Indian train fire leaves 47 dead

A fire on a passenger train in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh killed at least 47 people today.

The deaths came as a coach on the Tamil Nadu Express travelling to Chennai from Delhi caught fire.

Officials said the death toll could rise further as there were 72 passengers in the coach, the BBC reported.

The carriage was completely gutted and rescue teams had to break in using special equipment.

The incident happened as the train was passing through Nellore station, 310 miles south of Hyderabad.

B Sridhar, head of the Nellore district administration, told the BBC that 28 passengers travelling in the coach had been injured and taken to local hospitals.

He said an electrical short circuit could have led to the fire, and that most of the passengers were asleep when the incident happened at 4.20am local time.

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