Twelve passengers die in train blaze in France

AN overnight express train heading for Austria burst into flames near a station in eastern France yesterday, killing 12 passengers. Nine people were injured.

The fire broke out as the Paris-Vienna train with 150 passengers on board was passing through the city of Nancy. The train was heading for the Austrian capital via Strasbourg, near the French-German border.

Investigators said the cause was a possible electrical problem in the heating system. Most if not all victims six men, five women and one child died of smoke inhalation. Their identities were not immediately known, although Germany's Foreign Ministry said four of dead appeared to be German. The train was to stop in Munich before reaching Vienna.The injured four Germans, three Britons, one American and one French were taken to a university hospital in Nancy.

A train conductor alerted authorities at about 2.15am when he noticed smoke pouring from a carriage as the train passed the Nancy station on its way to Strasbourg.

"Rescuers got to the scene at 2.22am. They discovered the first sleeping car charred," Regional official Jean-Francois Cordet said. "Inside were 12 dead, nine injured."

Firefighters rushed to the train, which had stopped on a track about 875 yards outside the Nancy station. The charred carriage No. 119 belonged to Germany's national railway, Deutsche Bahn. It dated back to the 1960s and included wood construction and fitted carpeting.

"The catastrophe was amplified by the fact that it was in a confined space. The fire was limited, and the amount of smoke very quickly became catastrophic," chief firefighter Jean-Louis Modere said. Police investigators were on the scene. A team of psychologists was sent in to help survivors cope with the trauma.