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LAHORE/GUJRANWALA: The military’s rescue teams on Friday recovered the bodies of all those who lost their lives in the train disaster near Wazirabad the previous day while Railways teams managed to pull the three carriages from the water. However, the train’s locomotive could not be retrieved.
At least 17 people died and 85 others were injured on Thursday when the locomotive and three bogies of a special train carrying army personnel and military hardware to Kharian plunged into a canal near Jamke Chattha, in Gujranwala.
The bodies of army officers were sent to their native towns after funeral prayers in Gujranwala Cantonment. Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif and senior officers attended the prayers.
Meanwhile, a joint investigation team comprising Railways and military officials was formed to determine the cause of the accident. The seven-member team, later notified by the prime minister and to be headed by Railways Federal Inspector Mian Mohammad Arshad, will submit its report within 72 hours. Other members are: Maj Gen Shahzad Sikandar, Brig Naseem Baig and Col Mohammad Faheem, Railways’ Additional General Manager (mechanical) Liaquat Chughtai, AGM (infrastructure) Humayun Rasheed and Chief Mechanical Engineer (locomotives) Majeed Baig.
The team was formed when investigators from the army, Railways and the district administration of Gujranwala were still searching for clues to establish the cause of the accident.
The investigation team is expected to dispel rumours surrounding the cause of the accident. The confusion worsened on Friday.
On Thursday, Railways officials had hinted at the possibility of tinkering with fish plates – the joints that connect two tracks – as one of the possible causes of the accident.
Taking a cue from that indication, some private television channels jumped to the conclusion that some broken fish plates had been found at the site of the accident. Others said nuts and bolts as well as pressure-impacted parts of the track were found metres from the scene.
One channel claimed that the train had derailed at least one kilometre before hitting the bridge which could not sustain the pressure of derailment and collapsed.
A Railways official reacted sharply to all these rumours and called for restraint till the finalisation of the report. “Had merely the bolts been removed, the bridge would not have collapsed,” the official said.
REHABILITATION: Railways officials arranged another locomotive from Lahore to take the rest of the train, including 21 freight carriages, to a nearby station and clear the track.
They said that as per initial calculations it might take about one month to repair the bridge and make the track fully operational. That is why a fresh schedule of the trains to be re-routed has been released. The schedule will remain operational till restoration of the track.
LAST RITES: Funeral prayers for Maj Mohammad Adil Sharif were offered at Lahore Garrison. The prayers were attended by Lahore Corps Commander Lt Gen Naweed Zaman, Director General of Punjab Rangers Maj Gen Umar Farooq Burki, General Officer Commanding Maj Gen Sardar Tariq Aman and a large number of officers and soldiers.
He was later laid to rest with full military honours at the army graveyard in Cavalary Ground, Lahore.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015
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