The coach, which had been detached from a train, was stationed at the Madurai railway yard in the southern state of Tamil Nadu when the fire broke out before dawn, AFP reported.
“It was a single, stationary coach booked by a private tourist operator. Somebody tried to make tea and it caused the fire,” Madurai district spokesman Sali Thalapathi said.
“Nine people have died, three of them are women. Nine others are injured but their injuries are not life-threatening”, he added.
None of the bodies had been identified so far, he noted.
India has one of the world’s largest rail networks and has seen several disasters over the years, the worst in 1981 when a train derailed while crossing a bridge in Bihar state and plunged into a river below, killing 800 people.
In June, a triple-train collision killed nearly 300 people in Odisha state.
AMK/PR
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