Three people, including a child, were killed and eight others injured after an unidentified man set a co-passenger on fire inside an express train in the southern Indian state of Kerala, officials said on Monday.
The incident took place late Sunday on a train bound for Kannur district in the state.
“An unidentified man allegedly set on fire a co-passenger on Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express by pouring an inflammable liquid on him when the train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge after crossing Kozhikode city. Eight other passengers were injured in the process,” said the police.
“Hours later, three persons, including a one-year-old child and a woman, were found dead on the tracks near the Elathur railway station in Kozhikode,” the police added.
The injured were shifted to hospitals and the man escaped. An investigation is underway, the police said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described the incident as shocking and said the police have intensified their efforts to nab the culprit.