At least 66 people were killed Monday in a northern Indian city when blasts triggered a fire on a "peace train" running between India and Pakistan, officials and reports said. Police said 13 passengers were injured in the detonations of two suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) after midnight on the coaches of the Samjhauta Express near Panipat city, 100 kilometres north of New Delhi, the NDTV network reported. "We found some explosives on the site. There were blasts and these were primarily to start a fire on the train to cause the deaths," India`s junior Railway Minister Rangasamy Velu told reporters. Officials said low-intensity explosives were used in the suspected terrorist attack and most of the passengers died from burns and suffocation as the fire swept through the two coaches while the train was heading to the border town of Attari from Delhi. The Samjhauta Express, known as a "peace train," is one of two rail services operating between the South Asian neighbours. It resumed operations in 2004 as part of Indian-Pakistani peace talks. The attack was the first that targeted both Indian and Pakistani nationals. "The sabotage has been carried out by elements who are opposed to the peace process between India and Pakistan," Indian Railway Minister Lalu Yadav said. Pakistan condemned the attack and said terrorism would not hinder the improvement of bilateral relations. "Such incidents cannot disrupt the peace dialogue between the countries," Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the private ARY news channel. Ahmed said Indian authorities had been asked to provide a list of Pakistani passengers travelling on the Samjhauta Express. Most of the victims were Pakistanis, according to initial reports, although Ahmed`s ministry was still waiting for Indian authorities to provide a full passenger list. Senior Indian railway officials said two suitcases containing IEDs were recovered from the blast site. Mobile phones or remote-controlled devices could have been used to activate the IEDs, they said. "Three IEDS have been defused in a controlled environment," railway official VN Mathur said. "The terrorists probably planned to carry out more blasts on the train." Relief and rescue operations were under way and forensic experts had reached the scene of the incident. While the details about those killed were not yet clear, a number of those killed in the blasts were Pakistani nationals who were heading home after visiting relatives in India. The injured were rushed to a government-run hospital in Panipat. "I lost five of my children," an unidentified witness told NDTV. "There was smoke everywhere after the blast, and everyone fell unconscious. Nobody survived." The bodies were charred beyond recognition. "We cannot even say whether those killed were men or women as the bodies are in a bad shape," a senior police official told the IANS news agency. "Only the postmortem will tell this." Reports said several passengers, including children and elderly people, jumped out of the burning train as it was moving. Fire trucks were rushed to the spot, and the fire was brought under control after two hours. India and Pakistan started the bi-weekly Samjhauta Express, which links New Delhi with the Pakistani city of Lahore, and another train service, the Thar Express, to promote people-to-people contacts as part of peace talks they began in early 2004. The incident came a day before Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was scheduled to arrive in New Delhi for talks. Kasuri is to chair the India-Pakistan joint commission along with his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee. The panel was expected to review the peace process as well as discuss a newly launched anti-terrorism mechanism. "The prime minister expressed anguish and grief at the loss of lives," a spokesman for Indian Premier Manmohan Singh said. "The culprits will be caught." Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil and top security officials travelled to the blast site, from which the undamaged coaches continued their journey to Attari Monday morning. "Whoever is behind the incident is against peace and wants to spoil India`s growing relationship with other countries," Patil said. Meanwhile, India has decided to issue visas on an urgent basis for relatives of Pakistani nationals killed or injured in the blasts on the train. The blasts came in less than a year after a series of bombings on trains in India`s commercial city of Mumbai. More than 180 people were killed in the seven blasts on July 11, 2006. A high-alert was sounded in the Indian capital New Delhi and other major cities soon after the blasts. ╘ 2007 DPA