Politicos saddened over Tezgam Express blaze mishap in RYK

Politicos saddened over Tezgam Express blaze mishap

RAHIM YAR KHAN (Dunya News) – Prominent politicos on Thursday have expressed their deep sorrow on the Tezgam Express fire incident that occurred near Talwari Station in Rahim Yar Khan.

In a message, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has extended his condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the eternal peace of the deceased.  

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also expressed grief over the loss of precious lives and prayed for early recovery of the injured.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condoled with the families of the affectees and said the government should pay compensation to them and arrange for better treatment facilities.

Human rights minister Shireen Mazari said, "Terrible... train tragedy with gas cylinder carried by passenger exploding.” She said the train was the Tezgam, one of Pakistan’s oldest and most popular train services, which runs between the garrison city of Rawalpindi, adjacent to Islamabad, and the southern port city of Karachi.

Earlier today, several passengers were killed while scores sustained burn injuries as three carriages of a Tezgam Express caught fire due to explosion in a gas stove with cylinder near Talwari Station in Liaquatpur area when preachers belonging to the Tableeghi Jamaat were cooking breakfast.

Firefighters extinguished the fire whereas the affected carriages were also detached by the rest of the train.

Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed told the media, “Two cooking stoves blew up. They (passengers) were cooking, they had cooking oil which added fuel to fire. Most deaths occurred from people jumping off the train.”

Pakistan Army soldiers also assisted in relief and rescue efforts, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor. An army helicopter was dispatched from Multan in order to airlift the injured to the hospitals, the statement stated.

Pakistan’s colonial-era railway network has fallen into disrepair in recent decades due to chronic under-investment and poor maintenance.