Tragic crash
As many as six people were killed and 50 others injured as a Lahore-bound non-stop Express train derailed near Jehlum when six coaches of the train fell into a 15-30 metres deep ravine between Domeli and Bhakrala on Sunday at about 7:20 pm. The accident scene was on a sharp curve in a mountainous area. The ill-fated train was carrying some 600 people. The six coaches of the 108-Down Islamabad Express that fell into the ravine were carrying around 400 passengers. Pakistan Army and relief teams evacuated the stranded passengers and shifted them to hospitals where they were given immediate treatment. Train crashes are not unheard of in this part of the world. Three passenger trains collided near the southern town of Ghotki last July, killing more than 130 people and injuring around 1,000, in the country’s worst train disaster in at least a decade. The crash occurred when a train driver misinterpreted a signal, rammed into another train at a station and a third train then ploughed into the wreckage.
While that accident was caused due to human error, this recent accident’s evidence suggests sabotage. When the accident occurred, nobody was sure about the cause of the tragic accident. The railway police had found nuts and bolts and some tools near a fairly long uprooted section of the track, which the authorities took into possession for further investigation. Shamim Haider, Minister for Communications and Railways initially said that the authorities were exploring all possible aspects. But in a statement, Minister of State for Railways, Ishaq Khan Khakwani, said that saboteurs had opened up the bolts of plates that connect two pieces of the track which led to an accident. He said investigators found nuts, bolts and tools that were issued from his department at the part of the track that had been tampered with. “It is almost confirmed now that it is an act of sabotage,” Khakwani told journalists. “The evidence says it is sabotage.”
The cast of usual suspects can be a long one. It may be someone from outside Pakistan, it may be al Qaeda or the Taliban who are lashing back at being hunted down in NWFP, or it may well be the Baloch Liberation Army as there have been several attempts in recent months to blow up railway tracks and other state installations in the troubled province of Balochistan. But it is the first time in many years that a passenger train has been targeted in any other part of the country. Mr Khakwani said it was a sheer miracle that most of the passengers survived. True that it is a miracle that there weren’t many casualties when the carriages derailed. In a more civilised society, the Minister for Railways would have resigned on principle. It is the responsibility of the authorities to ensure complete safety of passengers. The security of railway tracks should always be extremely tight and the tracks regularly monitored. There is another possibility that the authorities are claiming ‘sabotage’ to cover their own negligence as the train was going at a high speed and the tracks are ancient. A thorough investigation should be conducted and the culprits caught and punished, whether they are saboteurs or criminally negligent staff. The authorities need to pull up their socks and bring justice to the innocent victims, while putting in place measures that prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
While that accident was caused due to human error, this recent accident’s evidence suggests sabotage. When the accident occurred, nobody was sure about the cause of the tragic accident. The railway police had found nuts and bolts and some tools near a fairly long uprooted section of the track, which the authorities took into possession for further investigation. Shamim Haider, Minister for Communications and Railways initially said that the authorities were exploring all possible aspects. But in a statement, Minister of State for Railways, Ishaq Khan Khakwani, said that saboteurs had opened up the bolts of plates that connect two pieces of the track which led to an accident. He said investigators found nuts, bolts and tools that were issued from his department at the part of the track that had been tampered with. “It is almost confirmed now that it is an act of sabotage,” Khakwani told journalists. “The evidence says it is sabotage.”
The cast of usual suspects can be a long one. It may be someone from outside Pakistan, it may be al Qaeda or the Taliban who are lashing back at being hunted down in NWFP, or it may well be the Baloch Liberation Army as there have been several attempts in recent months to blow up railway tracks and other state installations in the troubled province of Balochistan. But it is the first time in many years that a passenger train has been targeted in any other part of the country. Mr Khakwani said it was a sheer miracle that most of the passengers survived. True that it is a miracle that there weren’t many casualties when the carriages derailed. In a more civilised society, the Minister for Railways would have resigned on principle. It is the responsibility of the authorities to ensure complete safety of passengers. The security of railway tracks should always be extremely tight and the tracks regularly monitored. There is another possibility that the authorities are claiming ‘sabotage’ to cover their own negligence as the train was going at a high speed and the tracks are ancient. A thorough investigation should be conducted and the culprits caught and punished, whether they are saboteurs or criminally negligent staff. The authorities need to pull up their socks and bring justice to the innocent victims, while putting in place measures that prevent the recurrence of such incidents.
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