ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE, Feb 19: Federal Minister for Railways Shaikh Rashid Ahmad on Monday strongly condemned the attack on the Samjhota Express and said Samjhota and Thar Express trains would run according to their schedules despite the incident.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad and later talking to journalists at the Wagha Railway Station, he said the incident would not affect the peace process between Pakistan and India.
The minister said the Indian authorities had been asked to make arrangements for transportation of the bodies to Pakistan. He said officials of the Pakistan Railways were in constant communication with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and two officials of the PR were being sent to India to get details about Pakistani passengers on train so that maximum assistance could be provided to them.
Names of the dead and the injured are not yet confirmed and the Ministry of Railways is waiting for the information from the Indian Railways.
Mr Ahmad termed uncalled for the delay on part of the Indian authorities in providing details of the dead and injured even after the passage of so many hours.
“Our repeated attempts to contact them have been fruitless. They are not even attending our phone calls. At least the Indian railway people should have kept their Pakistani counterparts informed of the situation. They are neither sending us the list of the affected people nor allowing the train to move,” he said.
He said the train was carrying 757 passengers, 553 of whom were Pakistanis.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, he said, had announced a compensation of Rs500,000 each for heirs of the deceased and Rs100,000 each for the injured.
“A C-130 plane is ready to go to India to bring back the injured and the bodies to Pakistan and awaiting a green signal from Delhi,” he said.
After departure of the Pakistani train to Atari, the minister said, the Samjhota Express moved under tight security and no one could either enter or disembark. “I do not want to blame anyone for the mishap. It’ll be premature to say anything about the incident while sitting here. I’ll prefer to comment after getting some concrete information about the incident from the Indian authorities.”
The minister also directed the PR authorities not to issue tickets to more than the seating capacity of the train.
The Pakistan Railways has established telephone lines at the Lahore Railway Station for victim families and their relatives and friends. Information can be obtained from telephones: (042) 9201110, 6362032, 6363841, 6363851, 6364715, 6364716 and 6364717.
