Funeral prayers of Gujranwala train accident victims offered
Four bogies of a train carrying military troops fell into a canal near Jamke Chatha on Thursday.
GUJRANWALA (Web Desk) – Funeral prayers of army officials who died in yesterday s train accident in Gujranwala have been offered, Dunya News reported.
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.
Death toll in the incident has reached 17 after another four bodies were recovered from the canal.
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 Amir 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 prayer of Lt Col Amir Jadoon, his wife and two children was offered in Abbottabad, Major Adil was laid to rest in Lahore and Captain Kashif has been buried in Shah Kot.
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Earlier, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif visited CMH Gujranwala and inquired about the health of the injured persons in the train incident.
Army aviation helicopters and SSG divers are engaged in rescue efforts 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.
