THIS is with reference to the report ‘Fire on moving train kills seven in Khairpur’ (April 28). My phone buzzed past midnight on April 27 and it was my sister-in-law calling to tell me that the family back home was on the ill-fated train. My mother-in-law had fallen off the train and was in a critical condition, while four children of the family were missing.

The next eight hours were the toughest of my life. There was confusion, chaos, disbelief, shock and sheer agony. My wife lost her mother, two nephews and two nieces in the incident. The initial grief shortly gave way to anger over the normalisation of loss of human life, and over the utter apathy of ruling classes. There is also deep-seated inner despondency because everybody thinks nothing will improve, and we are destined to continue to witness such avoidable tragedies.

Alongside such feelings, there is also the belief that we should use this moment to improve things for the better, and it is this spirit that I would like to put a few relevant questions.

What caused this fire? Why did the train not stop immediately, and kept moving for at least 20 minutes after it caught fire? Were fire and smoke detection mechanisms in place in the train, and, if they were, how did they function? Was there any fire extinguishing equipment on board, and, if yes, why did it fail to work? When was the last safety audit of the train in question done, and what were its findings? What fire safety considerations were considered in designing the train coach that got burnt? What specific improvements, if any, have the department concerned undertaken after the fire incident of 2019? Who is responsible for preventing and extinguishing fires on trains, and what role was played by those individuals or departments during this incident?

There should be a full safety audit of railway operations by a reputed international party and no train should run without a green signal.

Besides, the compensation for accidents in case of deaths, as defined in the Railways Act, is still Rs100,000. This needs to be revised and updated to be a material and meaningful amount in line with the prevailing times.

Waleed Sadiq
Riyadh

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2023