Attack against Hindus leaves 58 dead, 43 injured

GUJARAT, India — At least 58 people are reported dead and 43 injured after a Muslim mob set fire to a train filled with Hindus in the Indian state of Gujarat Feb. 27.

In the wake of the incident, Hindus have retaliated, burning homes and businesses in riots that have killed 20 people. The state has indefinitely imposed curfew and the Indian army has been called in to maintain order.

The train, returning from the city of Ayodhya in northern India, carried hundreds of Hindu nationalists representing the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or World Hindu Council.

As it passed through Godhra, a town with a large Muslim minority, the passengers were reported to have started chanting Hindu slogans and refused to pay Muslim vendors for snacks that were purchased at the railway station. Locals pelted the train with stones before setting it ablaze. Four of the train compartments were completely gutted.