Gujranwala train accident: Another four bodies recovered, death toll reaches 18
Rescue efforts including army aviation helicopters and SSG divers underway.
GUJRANWALA (Web Desk) – Death toll in Gujranwala train accident has reached 18 after another four bodies were recovered from the canal, Dunya News reported.
Three bodies have been identified as Subedar Major Islam, Naik Arif Nasir, 12-year-old son of Lt Col Amir while identity of the fourth victim could not be confirmed yet.
Engineer Battalion Unit Commander Colonel Aamir Jadoon was martyred in this accident along with his wife and a daughter. Colonel Rashid, Captain Adil, Lieutenant Kashif, Constable Islam, Lance Naik Zafar and sweepers Saleem and Usman were also among the martyrs. Funeral prayers of the victims have been offered.
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On Thursday afternoon, about four bogies of a special train bound for Kharian carrying military troops derailed over Chanawan Bridge near Jamke Chattha and fell down in the canal.
Rescue efforts including army aviation helicopters and SSG divers underway whereas more than eighty persons have been rescued.
Railway sources said the train had 21 cargo wagons and six passenger coaches, of which four fell into the canal. The train was shifting cargo of the Pak Army from Pano Aqil to Kharian.
The pre-partition bridge that collapsed as the train was passing over it was reportedly in a dilapidated condition, however, Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that possibility of ‘sabotage’ cannot be ruled out in this incident.
Rafique said apparently some other hand seems to be at play in the incident.
On the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, a four-member investigation team was formed to probe the incident. The team comprises army’s engineering corps general, a brigadier and railways’s federal government inspector Mian Arshad and AGM Humayyun Rasheed.
The joint investigation team will present its report within 72 hours.
According to authorities, restoration of railway track will take more than two weeks.
