Fires India

Fire broke out Monday in a village in eastern Orissa state, killing 13 people, the United News of India reported. Police said more than 1,500 families were left homeless. At least 16 people were admitted to hospitals with severe burns, the news agency said. Fire engines still were trying to contain the blaze, which destroyed hundreds of huts in Bhuban village in Dhenkanal district, UNI said.

Islamic militants have killed 35 members of Kashmir's Hindu minority, police said Monday, days ahead of a planned meeting between the divided region's political separatists and India's prime minister. In one village, militants disguised as soldiers coaxed residents from their homes and then gunned down 22 of them -- the single deadliest attack by Islamic rebels in Kashmir since a 2003 cease-fire between India and Pakistan, police said.

At least 60 people burned to death when leftist radicals set fire to a train car in a protest that went awry near the south Indian city of Hyderabad, police said. They said Maoists poured kerosene on the floor of the car after boarding it to distribute leaflets supporting government plans to increase jobs reserved for lower-caste Hindus. The Maoists told the 120 to 150 passengers in the car to get out, set the kerosene on fire, then jumped off.

The government ordered the closure of all private mental asylums in a southern Indian town where a fire earlier in the week killed 27 inmates, many of whom were chained to their beds. "We have issued orders asking all 15 asylums to close down within a week. As a first step, we have directed these asylums not to keep any of the patients chained," said Vijaya Kumar, the top administrator of Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu state.

A fire destroyed a plastics factory Saturday and injured at least 45 people, 20 of them critically, Indian police said.

A fire broke out during taping at a television studio in southern India, killing at least 36 people and injuring 55, including one of India's best-known actors. The fire destroyed the six-story Premier Studios building in Mysore, about 75 miles southwest of Bangalore. Among the injured was Sanjay Khan, a well-known actor and director, who was burned over 60% of his body, the United News of India news agency said.

A fire swept through a shantytown in the Indian capital Sunday, killing at least 28 people, injuring 20 others and leaving thousands homeless, fire officials said. Most of the charred bodies were found in a mosque where people had assembled to pray in the eastern district of New Delhi. A police official said today that those trapped in the fire had been rescued and that the entire slum area had been cleared.

Fire swept through the government's main conference center in New Delhi on Monday, forcing the evacuation of more than 400 police and state government officials who were in meetings. No deaths or injuries were reported.

Thirteen protesters were killed and hundreds injured in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur when police opened fire to quell protests over the extension of a cease-fire with rebels. Police said a mob of about 2,000 people burned down the legislature in the state capital, Imphal. They also burned cars, political parties' offices and lawmakers' homes. At least 11 of the protesters who died were shot by police.

The fire started during a battle scene. Many of those watching the war movie assumed that the smoke billowing out from around the screen was a special effect--until they began having trouble breathing. By then, it was too late for many. Sixty people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire Friday at a theater in a southern suburb of New Delhi, Indian police said. At least 12 of the dead were children.

A fire raced through a palm-thatched shed housing mentally ill people in southern India, killing 25 patients, many of whom were chained to their beds, police said. At least five other patients were seriously injured in the fire at the Badshah asylum, attached to a Muslim mosque in Erwady, about 350 miles south of Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.

Thirteen protesters were killed and hundreds injured in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur when police opened fire to quell protests over the extension of a cease-fire with rebels. Police said a mob of about 2,000 people burned down the legislature in the state capital, Imphal. They also burned cars, political parties' offices and lawmakers' homes. At least 11 of the protesters who died were shot by police.

A predawn fire on a train in the western Indian state of Maharashtra killed 18 passengers and injured 15 more, a senior railway official said 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 Indian Railways, said in a telephone interview. He said the fire aboard the Punjab Mail occurred between two small stations in Maharashtra, about 280 miles from Bombay.

A fire swept through a shantytown in the Indian capital Sunday, killing at least 28 people, injuring 20 others and leaving thousands homeless, fire officials said. Most of the charred bodies were found in a mosque where people had assembled to pray in the eastern district of New Delhi. A police official said today that those trapped in the fire had been rescued and that the entire slum area had been cleared.

Legend has it that the apostle St. Thomas brought Christianity to India almost 2,000 years ago. But among this country's hard-core Hindu revivalists, the faith has never lost its foreign taint. A string of violent attacks--some with the apparent complicity of government officials--on churches and missionaries has sparked a panic among India's 23 million Christians and opened a debate about national identity in a country still tormented by its colonial past.

Bhutan's most revered monastery will be rebuilt after sacred relics and icons are removed from the burned ruins on the side of a cliff, officials said Tuesday. King Jigme Singye Wangchuck ordered the reconstruction of the Taktsang Monastery, where an April 19 fire consumed much of the wood and stone structure built in the 17th century. The original site dates back 1,200 years.

A bus caught fire Thursday in the southern city of Hyderabad, killing 21 passengers and injuring 18, the Press Trust of India reported.

A predawn fire on a train in the western Indian state of Maharashtra killed 18 passengers and injured 15 more, a senior railway official said 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 Indian Railways, said in a telephone interview. He said the fire aboard the Punjab Mail occurred between two small stations in Maharashtra, about 280 miles from Bombay.

The fire started during a battle scene. Many of those watching the war movie assumed that the smoke billowing out from around the screen was a special effect--until they began having trouble breathing. By then, it was too late for many. Sixty people were killed and more than 200 injured in a fire Friday at a theater in a southern suburb of New Delhi, Indian police said. At least 12 of the dead were children.

At least 50 Hindu worshipers were killed and more than 100 injured Saturday when flames tore through an 11th century temple in southern India on the eve of a major religious ceremony, police said. The blaze started when holy fire used for prayer ignited a thatched structure inside the famous Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur, about 175 miles southwest of Madras, the capital of Tamil Nadu state.