The Lahore bound Zakaria Express luckily averted a big tragedy as an explosion, allegedly remote controlled, destroyed two-feet of the track. The incident happened near village Phauto Khaskheli in Naushehro Feroze district in the wee hours of Wednesday at around 2am.
The train was carrying passengers from Karachi to Lahore. "Around three minutes after the train passed the site of the blast, the bomb went off," said station house officer of Darya Khan Mari Police Station, Mujeebur Rehman Narejo.
The explosion was carried out at the uptrack. Bomb Disposal Squad's Naveed Vistro told the media that the improvised explosive device used in the incident weighed around one kilogramme. A battery and a device connected to the remote were found from the site.
DSP Feroze Aijaz Memon said the incident was an act of terrorism. So far no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. In the recent past, similar attacks were claimed by some banned nationalist outfits.
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A team of the Sukkur Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) also visited the site of the blast. The incident's FIR will be lodged at the CTD Police Station.
A divisional engineer of the Pakistan Railways told the media that it took them around six hours to restore the track. Several trains were stopped at the railway stations in the neighbouring district until the track was repaired.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2021.
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