KARACHI, Feb 20: The 264 shattered survivors of the Samjhota Express tragedy reached here by Sindh Express on Tuesday evening. They were received by relatives and friends in heart rendering scenes as they disembarked from the train around 4:45pm at Platform No. 7.

Three survivors who had sustained minor injuries in the train fire were given medical aid at the railway station. The injured were Mohsin Ali, Mohammed Amir and Rukhsana. The survivors said the fire broke out in two bogies of Samjhota Express in a forest near a village. “We did not hear any blast, but heard people shouting ‘fire fire’ in the train”, they said.

Moving scenes were witnessed at the railway station as the relatives and friends embraced their surviving near and dear ones.

A woman who had come to receive her father and uncle told Dawn that the past 24 hours had been hell for the family. “Thank God my father and uncle have reached safe and sound”, she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I suffered injuries when I jumped out of my boggy out of panic”, one of the injured said.

Mohsin said he was asleep in his bogey when the fire broke out in other bogies. “I woke up as I heard passengers crying for help.” Rukhsana said she was injured when she jumped from the train.

The driver of Sindh Express, M. A. Butt, told Dawn that the survivors of Samjhota Express were silent throughout their journey from Lahore.

Kashif Qadeer, a survivor, said the Indian authorities reached the site two hours after the inferno. “However, the local population reached immediately and extended all possible help,” he added. He said those trapped in the train were actually rescued by other passengers.

Some other survivors said the Indian authorities at Attari were rude. They said the Indian officials snatched some articles from survivors. A young man said: “The Indians treated us as if we were not survivors, but prisoners of war.” A middle aged woman also complained of Indian authorities’ harsh behaviour at Attari.

Moving scenes were witnessed at the houses of Izhar Hussain and Syed Iftikhar Ali who perished in the fire along with four family members.

Izhar Hussain’s maternal nephew, Ishtiaq, told Dawn his uncle, aunt Razia Sultana, cousin Syed Iftikhar Ali, his wife Ashraf Jahan, and their two children Hassan, 8, and Mehak, 2, went to India a month ago. “All of them died in the incident.” Ishtiaq said he and two other sons Fahad, 12, and Umer, 10 waiting for the bodies. “We have made all burial arrangements”, he added.

A woman survivor said she was deprived of her cellular phone and Rs3,000 at the railway station. Sara Bibi said this was the only money that she had left and even this was stolen.