Fifteen people trying to steal fuel from a freight train died yesterday in northeastern India when they were overcome by toxic fumes, railway officials said.
Dozens more were injured.
The mob was led by tribal rebels who were seeking to steal fuel from the train travelling through oil-rich Assam state's remote Karbi Anglong district, officials said.
"The freight train with 48 wagons carrying diesel and petrol was intercepted by a group of people" who tried to steal the fuel, rail official S.S. Narayanan in Guwahati, Assam's largest city.
The raiders were overcome the fumes from the liquid which gushed out with great force, witnesses said.
"We saw 15 bodies scattered in a radius of about 100 metres (yards) from the site while up to 30 others were ill and some were were unconscious," villager K. Timung told AFP by telephone.