On The Wrong Track: Train kills PR workers sleeping on track

GUJRANWALA: A train ran over two employees of Pakistan Railways (PR) on Wazirabad-Gujrat track on Friday. The deceased were identified as Nasir Haq and Zulfiqar Riyasat, who were members of the PR night-patrol service. They were asleep on the track after examining the railway line when the Rawalpindi-bound Kyber Mail ran them over at 2am. They died instantly. Both the PR workers were residents of Wazirabad. They were reportedly wearing earphones at the time of the accident and apparently did not hear the approaching train. According to the train driver, one of the two workers noticed the train when he repeatedly blew the horn and applied the brakes. The man tried to move aside at the last minute but he too was hit and killed. The Railway Police handed over the bodies to the families after preliminary investigation.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2014.