Three of a family die in train accident

Deceased include two brothers and a cousin of theirs

JARANWALA:

Two brothers and a cousin of theirs, who had been riding on a motorcycle to their home after knocking off work, hadn’t had the faintest idea of how close death was.

And not a natural death, but a very violent one: being crushed under the wheels of a train.

Saqib, 30, his brother, Bilal, 18, and cousin Khizar Hayat, 25, residents of 280-GB, had been on their way home from 281-GB Jaranwala to Arakana Pathurana Gate, within the limits of the Rodala Police Station.

They could have hardly imagined that this time round, they won’t make it.

When the motorcycle was about to go across the railroad, it collided with a bullock cart. The force of the impact hurled the riders onto the railroad.

The driver of the train from Lahore hadn’t had time to jam down the brakes.

It sped on, crushing the three people under its wheels.

The men’s bodies lay on the railroad for a long time since the area where the accident happened was a deserted area, and it was already dark.

Read: Train squashes car, killing driver

Nevertheless, a passersby spotted the mutilated bodies. It took some time for the passerby to regain his senses and inform the police and Rescue 1122 about the bodies.

Rescue 1122 staff reached the spot and handed over the three bodies to Rodala Police, who had them shifted to Jaranwala Hospital.

Upon receiving information about the accident, the SP and the DSP of Jaranwala, Abid Hussain Zafar and Malik Tariq, respectively, along with the SHO of the Rodala Police Station and officers from the Railway Police and administration, reached the spot and started investigation into the matter.

Police said that during the railway crossing, the motorcyclists collided with the bullock cart and got hurled onto the railroad.

Police also said that the accident would not have happened if there had been a railway level crossing gate.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2023.