06 March 2005	Sunday	24 Muharram 1426

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LAHORE/SHEIKHUPURA, March 5: Five people were killed and over two dozen others injured when the bogie of a Narowal-bound train derailed near Ferozwala on Saturday.

The train (211-up) left Lahore at 5.30pm. When it reached Babakwal, some 8km away from Ferozwala, its last bogie derailed.

A police source in Ferozwala told Dawn by phone that over 70 passengers, most of them labourers belonging to Narowal, were on board the derailed coach.

The injured were taken to the Mayo hospital in Lahore and Sheikhupura's DHQ hospital where five of them were pronounced dead. The condition of 10 injured was stated to be critical.

The deceased were identified as Omar Hayat, Nazir, Zahid and Ghori. The name of the fifth one could not be ascertained. The bodies were taken to the city autopsy.

One of the injured, Muhammad Mahmood, told reporters that the bogie was full of passengers when it derailed after a jolt.

Railway traffic between Lahore and Narowal was suspended after the accident.

The Railways general manager told Dawn that an inquiry team had been formed to ascertain the cause of the derailment. Hundreds of relatives and friends of the labourers who were scheduled to visit their homes on the weekend thronged the Narowal railway station after hearing the derailment news. The railway authorities had made no arrangement to inform them about the fate of the passengers.

APP adds: Meanwhile, Railways Minister Mian Shamim Haider suspended the divisional engineer, railways, Lahore, assistant engineer and local inspector, railways, for negligence.

The minister said that Rs100,000 each would be given to the heirs of the deceased as compensation and Rs50,000 each to the injured. He said the injured would be provided free treatment.