KARACHI: Seven people were killed and several others injured when a business-class cabin of Lahore-bound Karachi Express caught fire near Tando Masti Khan in Khairpur district in the wee hours of Thursday.
The tragedy occurred near Tando Masti Khan, with Pakistan Railways’ District Coordination Officer Mohsin Siyal confirming the death toll. Of the six bodies recovered, police surgeon Dr Abu Talib said they were unidentifiable and would require DNA testing before being returned to their families.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
According to a press statement by Pakistan Railways, the train, Karachi Express, was traveling from Karachi to Lahore when an alert was received that the air-conditioned business coach had caught fire at around 12:30 am.
The train was stopped near Tando Masti Khan station, and the fire brigade arrived around 1:50 am to extinguish the fire, which took 40 minutes.
The statement added the affected carriage was disconnected, and the train resumed its journey at 6:45 am. A 70-year-old woman was gravely injured while attempting to escape the burning carriage and later died from her injuries.
The Sukkur district commissioner, district coordination officer, and railway officials were present at the scene and managing the situation.
According to DCO Mohsin Siyal, two children of a family also went missing during the incident, but they were later found at bogie number 18.
On the other hand, a passenger named Colonel Ikram said that his four children, including a daughter and three sons were still missing in the incident.
The railway staff brought the fire, which was not intense, under control on their own. Railway traffic, on the other hand, was disturbed as other trains were stopped at different stations. Pakistan Express was stopped at Khairpur, Allama Iqbal at Tando Masti and Tezgam at Mehrabpur.
Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique took notice of the fire incident in the Karachi Express’ bogie and formed an inquiry team to probe the tragedy.  The inquiry team led by Federal Government Inspector of Railways (FGIR) will conduct a comprehensive investigation into the incident and will arrive in Khairpur tomorrow to determine how the fire started in the bogie.
‘Train tragedy may have been caused by sabotage’
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Pakistan Railway Khawaja Saad Rafiq hinted that Karachi Express train tragedy may have been caused by sabotage.
Speaking during the National Assembly session on Thursday, the federal minister pledged a thorough investigation into the matter, which will uncover the cause of how long it took for the train to stop after pulling the chain and why a woman had to jump.
The current accident’s details will be revealed in a couple of days.
Kh Saad Rafiq stressed the need for funds from the provincial government to improve railway safety and security measures to avoid future disasters.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif took notice of the fire incident in Karachi Express train near Khairpur in Sindh province.
In a statement on Thursday, the Prime Minister expressed deep grief and sorrow over the death of people in the incident. He prayed for high ranks of the departed souls.
The Prime Minister directed to provide best medical facilities to the injured. He also instructed the Minister of Railways to complete and submit the inquiry report at the earliest.
