Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed on Thursday accepted the negligence of the railways staff for allowing the Tableeghi Jamaat passengers to bring gas cylinder with them.
Talking to media here, the minister said those responsible for the negligence will be punished. Regarding demand of his resignation, he said the people who want him to resign must wait till Sunday. “My resignation is no issue,” he said.
He said two cylinders and a stove exploded in the train in Liaqatpur near Rahim Yar Khan. The coaches were booked by Ameer of Tableeghi Jamaat for the passengers of different districts of Sindh for travelling to Raiwind, he added.
The members of Tableeghi Jamaat mostly use trains to travel and we have just opened the Raiwind station,” he said. “The train stopped for two minutes at Raiwind station from where the passengers carried stove and cylinders, causing blast in the train,” he said. “The major seven regional headquarters of railways are equipped with scanners, however the small railway stations have no scanners to check the luggage carried by passengers,” he added.
The minister announced a compensation of Rs 1.5 million each for the families of Tezgaam train fire victims who lost their lives and Rs 0.5 million each for the injured. He appreciated rescue and relief teams of different organizations as well as Pakistan Army troops for reaching the incident site in time to start rescue operation and evacuate the victims from the train. He also thanked the chief of army staff for making arrangements of his air travel to reach Rahim Yar Khan from Nur Khan Airbase and supervise
rescue and relief activities there.
Sheikh Rashid prayed to Almighty Allah to rest the departed souls in eternal peace and grant courage to members of the bereaved families to bear this loss with equanimity.
The minister also ordered a detailed inquiry into the incident to determine the root cause of the tragedy and identify the responsible staff who allowed the passengers to carry cylinders and stove with them. He directed the officials concerned to submit the preliminary report of the tragedy within 24 hours.
A passenger of Tezgam train, however, disputed the statements of the minister that the incident took place due to gas cylinders carried by Tableeghi Jamaat members.
In a video that went viral on social media, the eyewitness claimed that the fire could not be attributed to the gas cylinder blast as all the cylinders were emptied at the station. The fire broke out in the AC sleeper where the cylinders were not allowed, he said, adding that they were told by railway personnel that it was in fact due to a short-circuiting in the ceiling fan. The eye witness claimed that there were no fire extinguishers in the carriages, and rejected the minster’s statement that Tableeghi Jamaat members were behind the incident.
