At least nine passengers, including a woman, were charred to death when a fire engulfed the speeding Mumbai-Dehradun Express near Dahanu town in Maharashtra's Thane district early Wednesday, officials said.

The incident happend soon after the train left Dahanu station. Four of a family from Gujarat including a woman and three men were also injured, said the railway police. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. However, the fire has been put out and the train has made its forward journey," Chairman, Railway Board, Arunendra Kumar said.