NEW DELHI, Feb 20: An Indian soldier onboard the fire-bombed train to Pakistan died while rescuing trapped passengers from blazing carriages, officials said on Tuesday.

Kashmir Singh was part of a rail security team on the cross-border train. The midnight attack in the northern Indian city of Panipat killed 68 people and injured more than a dozen with severe burns.

“After the twin blasts, Singh smashed through a steel door and an emergency hatch of one of the two blazing carriages and helped five or six passengers get out,” Police Inspector-General Sharad Kumar said. “He kept pushing out people from the coach despite being on fire himself ... and finally flames overwhelmed him.”

Police officer Ranjan Sharma, citing witness accounts, said Singh ignored the risk to his life in the “fire-storm” which engulfed the carriages.—AFP