Authorities in Vilnius have ordered the evacuation of an area within a one kilometer radius around a railway station after a train carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was engulfed in flames and exploded during loading.

The fire broke out at 9.30am (GMT) but by the afternoon the 40 firefighters who rushed to the scene were unable to reach the train because of the very high temperature that had developed, the Lithuanian Fire and Rescue Service said.

The LPG comes from a Lithuanian refinery owned by Poland’s Orlen company, but another company is responsible for transporting it. The terminal at the railway station is not owned by Orlen, a spokesman for that company said. There is no indication that the fire was a deliberate act, he stressed, noting that an investigation is already under way.

“At this stage, there are no suspicions of deliberate actions. The company is cooperating with the terminal owner and the relevant authorities in the investigation into the causes of the accident,” he said.

At 9.54am, a few minutes after the incident, local authorities stopped a Russian passenger train that was about 10 kilometers from the station and redirected it to another spot, a Lithuanian railway spokesman said.