ISLAMABAD – The death toll from a fire in three bogies of a Tezgam trainnear Liaquatpur city jumped to 65, while many remain under criticalcondition, Rahim Yar Khan district government said on Thursday.
“According to the information reaching us from site of the accident, morethan 65 people were killed and over 40 injured,” Punjab health minister DrYasmin Rashid told *AFP*.
Women and children are among the victims — none of whom have beenidentified yet. The dead and injured are being shifted to DHQ Hospital inLiaquatpur. Some of the injured have also been shifted to Bahawal VictoriaHospital in Bahawalpur due to their critical condition.
The train was bound from Karachi to Rawalpindi, *Radio Pak* reportedlink.The fire was caused by a cylinder blast that occurred in the morning whenpassengers were preparing their breakfast, Railways Minister Sheikh Rashidsaid and added that they belonged to a *tableeghi jamaat* who were headedtowards Raiwand. Many people saved their lives by jumping off the train,the minister said.
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In a video message, Rashid announced that a compensation of Rs1.5 millionwill be paid to the heirs of the dead while Rs500,000 will be provided tothose who are injured.
He said that two of the coaches that caught fire were booked under the nameof *tableeghi jammat’s* emir Hussain and added that the ministry waspreparing a list of the victims. Rashid said that it was a “failure” on thepart of the Railways authorities since they failed to carry out thoroughchecking of the passengers’ luggage.
