Rashid orders to complete Tezgam fire inquiry in 15 days

MULTAN, Oct 31 (APP)::Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad Thursday said he had ordered to complete probe into the fatal Tezgam Express fire incident, which had claimed 74 lives, in 15 days.

Talking to media persons here at the Tank Chowk before visiting the injured at Nishtar Hospital, he said he also announced Rs 1.5 million compensation each for the deceased and Rs 300,000 to Rs 500,000 each for over 47 injured passengers.

He said the huge fire that erupted in the train was caused by a cylinder blast. The Raiwind-bound Tableegi Jamat workers were warned by the train driver not to ignite the cylinders which they were carrying with them. Similar warning was also repeated by the train guard, but they turned a deaf ear.

The minister said the Tableegi Jamat workers usually carried cylinders with them when they were on a preaching mission. He admitted negligence on the part of railway administration, saying that the passengers should have been stopped from taking the cylinders aboard the train.

He said Mr Salman, the Tableegi caravan leader, was strictly prohibited from lighting fire using liquefied petroleum gas cylinders in the moving train, but he did not take the advice seriously, resulting in the tragic incident.

He said on the directive of Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the army personnel, doctors and paramedics for treating the injured on the spot, besides airlifting the serious ones through a military helicopter to hospitals.

The minister said the Pakistan Railways had collected a record revenue in its history since he had taken charge of the ministry. Minimum number of train accidents had occurred during his tenure as the railway minister due to safeguards and improved procedures adopted by the department, he added.

Replying to questions about his resignation after the accident, Rashid said there was no problem in that regard. He would discuss the issue on the coming Sunday in Lahore.

He said Friday would be a historic day in the Railways’ history when the Planning Commission would pass landmark ML-1 project. After completion of the project, over 1800 kilometer distance between Lahore and Karachi would be covered in eight hours while it would take only two-and-a-half hours from Rawalpindi to Lahore.

Rashid later visited the Nishtar Hospital to inquire after the health of nine injured passengers. He directed the doctors and medics on duty to take proper care of them and also prayed for their early recovery.