The day after the train attack rioting broke out across the state of Gujarat

England have

Fifty-seven Hindu pilgrims have died in a fire on a train in India.

The fire happened as the Sabarmati Express, bound for Ahmedabad, was pulling out of Godhra station in the western state of Gujarat at approximately 0630 hrs today.

The train was returning hundreds of Hindu activists from apilgrimageto the disputed holy site of Ayodhya in the northern Indian state of Uttar P, which is claimed by both Muslims and Hindus.

A gang of Muslims are suspected of causing the fire and India's prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has appealed for calm amid fears of renewed religious tension in the country.

The dispute over Ayodhya has been ongoing for several years.

In 1992 the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, organised a demonstration which resulted in the destruction of a 500-year-old Moghul mosque at Ayodhya.

The Hindus believe the mosque occupied the same spot where their god Ram was born.

The destruction of the mosque sparked the most widespread rioting India has seen since partition, and resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 people.

More than 14,000 Hindus have gathered at Ayodhya in recent weeks to plan the construction of a temple. They have set a deadline of 15 March for work to begin.

According to the head of police in Godhra, Raju Bhargava, it appears this morning's train fire was started by a gang of Muslims who were angered by pro-Hindu chanting on the train.

Initial evidence suggests kerosene was poured into four of the carriages before they were set alight.

Local resident Rakesh Kimani, 18, witnessed the event: "I heard screams for help as I came out of my house.

"I saw a huge ball of fire... people putting out their hands and heads through the windows, trying to escape.

"It was a horrible sight."

Schools and shops have been shut in Godhra and a curfew has been imposed. Police in the town have been ordered to shoot troublemakers on sight.

Prime Minister Vajpayee, whose Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), allied to the VHP, came to power in the mid-1990s in a landslide victory, said: "This is a very sad and unfortunate incident.

"The Ayodhya dispute can be solved only by dialogue between Hindus and Muslims or resolved by the court. It cannot be resolved through violent means or agitation.

"I would appeal to the VHP to suspend their campaign and help government in maintaining peace and brotherhood in the country."

But the VHP has called for a state-wide strike to protest against the attack and the more militant members have vowed to continue with the temple's construction.

There have been scattered reports of clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat after news of the train attack spread.

General de Gaulle was the targeted last August by rebel army officers

Argoud was, until now, the only active member of the Algerian Secret Army (OAS) , an organisation opposed to Algerian independence that has used violent methods to promote its cause.

He was found by police yesterday tied up and badly bruised in the back of a blue van in central Paris after a tip-off.

He claims he was kidnapped from Munich, Germany, by the French secret service, known as Les Barbouzes (the Bearded Ones).

But the man who phoned police about Argoud's whereabouts claimed to be a member of the OAS.

He told the police: "Argoud has betrayed us. He has failed in all the tasks which he should have organised - especially the attempt on the life of President de Gaulle at the Petit Clamart last August.

"You can pick him up now. He is very near you."

The blue van was found just yards from the Quai des Orf鑦res, the French equivalent of Scotland Yard.

After a failed coup led by General Raoul Salan in August 1961, Argoud was captured and imprisoned in the Canary Islands.

But last March he escaped to Madrid dressed as a Spanish officer.

Two months later, he made his way to Germany where he tried to drum up support for his cause among French Army units based there.

He has since courted the more moderate version of the OAS, the illegal National Resistance Council (CNR) led by former prime minister Georges Bidault and Jacques Soustelle.

Fifteen of Argoud's associates are already on trial at a military court in Paris for their part in the de Gaulle assassination plot.

Argoud himself was sentenced to death in absentia while he was on the run.

This sentence will be set aside in preparation for a new trial.

pilgrimage: a journey to a sacred place（朝拜，朝圣）