Broken welding joints of track caused Ghotki train crash: report

LAHORE/ SUKKUR: The initial investigation report on the Ghotki train accident revealed on Tuesday that the incident “occurred when a welding joint of the track broke, causing derailment of the Millat Express train bogies”.

Over 60 people were killed and more than 100 were injured on the wee hours of Monday morning Sir Syed Express and the Millat Express collided near Ghotki.

The initial report has been forwarded to Railways Minister Azam Swati.

The initial report said that breaking of the welding joint of the up track’s right side caused 12 coaches of the Millat Express to crash onto the down track. The Karachi-bound Sir Syed Express, as a result, collided with those coaches, causing the accident.

The engine of Sir Syed Express and four coaches derailed as a result of the accident, said the report, adding that experts were retrieving data from the black boxes of both trains’ engines. The report, as per sources, stated that the data obtained from the black boxes would be made part of the investigation report of the Federal Inspectors of Railways.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Railways has resumed its train operations after 30 hours, following the horrific accident. A spokesperson for Pakistan Railways said that up track had been restored for rail traffic, while efforts were under way to restore the down track. Additionally, the trains including Shalimar, Greenline, Jinnah Express, Business Express, running from Lahore to Karachi, had been cancelled.

Meanwhile, Ghotki train crash death toll soared to 65 on Tuesday, as the rescue operation came to a halt after 27 hours.

Divisional Superintendent Sukkur Tariq Latif confirmed the track had been restored for train service, adding that 17 coaches and the engine of the train had been cleared from the route.

He said trains travelling on the affected tracks have been asked to keep their speed slow for the time being. He said that transportation of the bodies of the train victims had been in progress. Almost all deceased had been identified, except for nine victims, including four woman, three children and two men. Their unidentified bodies are lying in the mortuary of Taluka Hospital Obaro and District Headquarters Hospital of Mirpur Mathello.

Meanwhile, the passengers of the stopped trains at Railway stations of Khairpur, Rohri and other cities thanked the people over their hospitality.

Agencies add: Pakistan Railways spokesman Ijaz Shah said the families of those killed would receive compensation of 1.5 million rupees.

Khan Mohammad, station master at nearby Reti junction, said more lives could have been saved if they had had just a few more minutes after the derailment. “I saw a six or seven-year-old girl trapped underneath the locomotive, her knee stuck in the track,” he said. “We somehow rescued her, and she was miraculously alive.”

But then the oncoming train hit. “If there had been a delay of about 10 minutes, this accident could have been averted,” he said.

Farmer Ali Nawaz was out watering his crop — normal at this time of year to stop summer evaporation — when he heard screeching sounds and then saw flames. “We gathered that the train had derailed and frantically started calling up the railways official,” the 47-year-old said.

“While we were trying to call, the other train came up with a very big blast and flames riding high in the sky.” “It was like hell let loose on the train,” said Ali Bux, another farmer.