February 20, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 2, 1428

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LAHORE, Feb 19: Shah Mohammad and his family, including his four children, were the lucky survivors who emerged unhurt from the bogey of the New Delhi-Attari train that caught fire after an explosion near Panipat in India en route Lahore.

“We were resting when all of a sudden we heard an explosion and saw fire engulfing the rear side of our bogey and another coach. In a matter of a few seconds our bogey was filled with smoke as everyone panicked and started shouting for help. The train didn't stop for another 10 minutes and the passengers could not break open the doors and windows. There was total confusion, and cries for help. As the train finally came to a halt and doors opened, we jumped out to save our lives," Shah Mohammad told this reporter on arrival at Wagah on Monday evening.

"When we came to our senses, we found our four children missing. My husband immediately went back into the smoke-filled coach to rescue them, but fainted. I also followed him, helped him regain consciousness and rescue our children," said Shabana Ansari, wife of Shah Mohammad.Hailing from Karachi, Shah Mohammad was sorry to have lost everything -- luggage, passports, etc, but was glad that his family and his mother and a relative, who were also travelling with them, had survived and emerged unhurt from the worst incident of their life.

Shah Mohammad and his family were among the 716 passengers, including 193 who boarded the train from Atari, the Samjhota Express brought them to Lahore. The Samjhota Express had left to Atari early in the evening with some 1,125 passengers on board. However, the train has a capacity of around 750 seats.

Talking to Dawn, Shabana Ansari said the incident had frightened her children and the youngest daughter remained clinging to her for many hours. She said that she herself saw a number of people becoming victims of fire, who were reduced to ashes in just few minutes. She said the incident of burning four children alive in the same bogey had compelled everyone to cry. The mother of four unfortunate children could only save her infant child.

She also said that they were now penniless and were able to get footwear and a blanket from the Indian officials at Atari.

Another passenger, Juhi, 45, said that she and her son Samar Abbas were travelling in the same fateful bogey that caught fire but had moved to another bogey as there was no seat it (coach no 11). She said that they had also come out of the train in panic as soon as it stopped in a desolate place in Panipat. She said the fire tenders and ambulances could reach the spot after almost an hour late.

Another passenger, Shaukat Ali, 42, who had gone to visit his maternal grandparents in Jaipur, said he saw that two bogeys had caught fire. "The passengers were coughing and fainting in bogeys. A Pakistani boy was hysterically crying, as his father and mother had burnt alive in one of the burnt coaches," he said.

An elderly woman, Bhoori from Gujranwala, who had received minor burn injuries on her face, said that all of her belongings had burnt to ashes in the train fire.

Bhoori said that she had managed to jump out of the train as soon as her shawl caught fire. "Though I have been saved, I have become penniless and pondering that how I will be able to return Rs30,000 loan. I had borrowed the money to purchase household items from Meerath and planning to sell them in Gujranwala to earn some profit," she said.

At the Wagah railway station, the immigration officials only processed passengers' immigration and did not check the luggage in a bid to facilitate passengers to reach Lahore at the earliest as they had already spent some five hours at the Atari railway station.

As soon as the train left Wagah for the Lahore railway station, an elderly woman Musarrat and her son Furqan Mahmood were crying desperately. When asked, Musarrat said that her son and her mother were due to return on this train but she could not find them among the passengers that arrived Lahore. The train reached Wagah with families whose members remained safe. The relatives of those who died or hospitalised with injuries stayed in India.

Earlier in the day, a large number of ambulances of different organisations, including Edhi, had reached the Wagah railway station and continued to stay till the train left for the Lahore railway station. However, the Samjhota Express did not carry any injured passenger.

A large number of journalists belonging to the print and electronic media had also reached early in the day and kept waiting for the train that left for Atari from Wagah at 4.40pm. It returned with the passengers of the fateful train at 6.15pm.

During the day, Pakistan Railways Minister Shaikh Rasheed continued to take update from railway officials and Rangers and kept the media informed. He also asked Pakistan Railways chairman Shakeel Durrani to ensure that the number of passengers going to Atari must confirm to the train's seating capacity. He also asked the officials to ensure that every passenger should be scanned at walk-through scanners.

A few relatives, who had come to receive their near and dear ones, faced a tough time at the Wagah railway station platform as they complained that Rangers and police officials were continuously asking them to stay away from the platform, where the railways minister was sitting to monitor arrangements and gathering information.

Zaheer Ahmad told Dawn that he had come to Wagah from Karachi after learning about the explosion and consequent burning of the train bogeys. But, he said, the Rangers and policemen were continuously pushing and directing him to stay away. He said the railways officials were also not giving him any information about the passengers coming to Lahore. "I can't understand that why all the government officials are not attending the passengers' relatives, for whom they all had gathered at Wagah," he said.