Six railways officials suspended in aftermath of Hazara Express accident
Pakistan
Hazara Express accident, Pakistan Railways suspends six officials
LAHORE (Dunya News) - The Pakistan Railways has suspended six officials from service days after the Hazara Express accident claimed more than 30 lives and left many injured.
Officials say the move is meant to ensure accountability and ensure safety standards within the organisation.
After identifying the employees alleged to have shown negligence which has resulted in the disaster, the railway authorities suspended them. Preliminary findings indicated lapses in execution of duties, officials say.
Those suspended were: Divisional Executive Engineer Hafiz Badrul Arfeen from Sukkur, Assistant Executive Engineer (Nawabshah), Power Controller from Kotri Bashir Ahmed, Atif Ashfaq from Karachi Diesel Workshop, Arif, a permanent inspector from Shahdadpur, and gangman Ghulam Muhammad.
More than 30 passengers were killed and 70 others suffered injuries after 11 bogies of Hazara Express derailed near Sarhari Railway Station located between Shahzadpur and Nawabshah on Sunday last.
The train was on its way to Rawalpindi from Karachi when 11 of its bogies derailed. The train was carrying a good number of passengers.
Locals and some of the travellers launched rescue activities and started pulling the trapped people out of wreckage.
An emergency was declared in nearby hospitals as rescuers joined efforts to shift the injured to hospitals. The injured were shifted to People's Medical Hospital of Nawabshah.
