RAHIM YAR KHAN/MULTAN: In a rare and one of the most horrifying tragedies in Pakistan Railways’ history, 73 passengers were killed, with 90 per cent of them burnt alive, and over 40 injured when three coaches of Rawalpindi-bound Tezgam Express caught fire near Liaquatpur on early Thursday morning, with a number of witnesses strongly disputing Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid’s claim that a couple of gas cylinders carried by a group of Tableeghi Jamaat members had caused the inferno.
Some passengers died and others sustained multiple fractures when they leapt out of doors and windows of the moving train in a bid to escape the blaze.
Mr Rashid said the affected coaches — one business class and two economy — carried over 200 people who boarded the train from Karachi, Hyderabad and Mehrabpur and were bound for Raiwind’s annual Tableeghi congregation.
Witnesses dispute Sheikh Rashid’s claim that gas cylinders caused blast
He said they were preparing breakfast at around 6am when the cylinders exploded.
However, a Tableeghi Jamaat member, who survived the blaze, told TV channels that cylinders were empty and were meant for use (cooking) during the three-day congregation which began on Thursday evening.
He said the two cylinders and a stove were in the economy class while the fire initially erupted in the business class coach due to short-circuiting and spread to the following economy coaches within no time. He said he and some other passengers had noticed a smell similar to PVC burning well before the fire eruption and informed some PR staff moving in the coaches, but they did not care.
Train driver Mohammad Siddique said he noticed the fire at 6.20am (when the train was between Liaquatpur and Channi Goth railway stations) and brought it to a halt in four minutes. He said the burning coaches in the centre of the train were detached with the help of staff on board the train.
Rescue 1122 vehicles shifted 65 bodies and more than 40 injured initially to the Liaquatpur Civil Hospital. Rahim Yar Khan’s district emergency officer Dr Abdus Sattar said they reached the site within 10 minutes of receiving the call. He said Rescue 1122 staff found some of the dead and dozens of injured, who leapt out of the train, in a stretch of two kilometres along the rail tracks.
He said staff and vehicles were mobilised from other districts as well, as over 100 ambulances and eight firefighting vehicles joined the operation. He said some women and children were also among the victims.
Later, 26 of the injured were shifted to the Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital, nine to Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur, and as many to Nishtar Hospital, Multan, by army helicopter.
Rahim Yar Khan chief executive officer of health Dr Sakhawat Randhawa said that only 15 dead bodies could be identified, adding that the rest would be identified after DNA test.
Liaquatpur Emergency Patient Welfare Society general secretary Raja Imtiaz told Dawn that he had counted 74 dead and 65 injured at the Liaquatpur hospital.
The burnt bogies were later brought to Channi Goth and track was cleared for rail traffic within two hours of the fire.