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Indian train fire kills 18, injures 15

BOMBAY: A pre-dawn fire on a train in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has killed 18 passengers and injured a further 15, a senior railway official said on Saturday.

"Investigations are taking place to find out the cause of the fire which has since been contained," Mukul Marwah, public relations officer of the Central Indian Railway, told Reuters by telephone.

He said the fire in the Punjab Mail occurred between two small stations in Maharashtra about 455 km (280 miles) from Bombay.

The train, which was carrying an estimated 1,000 passengers, set off from Bombay's central terminus on Friday evening, Marwah said.-Reuters