Railway track blown up; six injured

QUETTA:

At least six passengers aboard Rawalpindi-bound Jaffar Express were injured when four bogies and a locomotive derailed after a bomb blast near Sibi, Balochistan Tuesday.

The blast disrupted rail services between Queeta and other parts of the country as a portion of the railway track was blown up.

Officials of the Pakistan Railways told The Express Tribune that the railways track was blown up by the miscreants when the train Jaffar Express left for its destination from Quetta and reached Sibi. Resultantly four bogies of the train were derailed along with an engine.

“Six passengers aboard the train were left injured,” said an official, adding that soon after receiving information about the blast officials reached the site and initiated a rescue operation.

The injured were shifted to district hospital Sibi and the condition of all the injured is stable, he said.

A relief train and equipment were immediately dispatched to the site.

The official said that the one locomotive and four bogies were damaged in the blast. However, other passengers, who were traveling in the train, escaped unhurt.

“A portion of the railway track linking Quetta with the rest of the country has been damaged in the blast so four bogies and one locomotive were derailed,” he said, adding that railway engineers and other staff reached the site with machinery and launched work to remove the derailed bogies and engine from the track to restore rail traffic between Quetta and other provinces.

“The Quetta bound passenger trains coming from Karachi and Rawalpindi were stopped at different stations till traffic is restored on the track,” he said.

“Full restoration of rail traffic would take at least 23 hours,” claimed another official.

Security officials who examined the explosion site said that the IED had been attached with the track and detonated with a remote control.”

Security forces have launched a search operation in the area and some suspects were taken into custody for investigation.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bezenjo has condemned the explosion at Railway track and said that the elements involved in this terrorist act would not be spared and soon would be brought to justice.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 19^th, 2022.