Punjab governor, FM Qureshi discuss overall political situation of country

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi called on Punjab Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar in Lahore on Thursday.

Matter of mutual interest and the overall political situation of the country were discussed.

Both leaders expressed profound grief and sorrow over the loss of precious human lives in the Tezgam Express fire incident.

At least 73 people were dead and 40 others injured when fire engulfed three bogies of Tezgam Express due to an alleged cylinder explosion at Liaquatpur in Rahim Yar Khan on Thursday morning.

The train was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi when the unfortunate occurrence took place.

A Pakistan Railways official confirmed that the fire was caused by the explosion in a gas cylinder. After the blast, the raging fire engulfed two other coaches as well.

Railway officials said there were more than 200 passengers travelling in the three carriages , in which there were at least 77 passengers in one of the carriages while there 78 in the other economy class carriage. At least 54 passengers were travelling in the business class carriage.

The driver of Tezgam Express in his statement claimed that fire erupted in three bogies of the train due to cylinder explosions.

“Incident happened around 6:20 in the morning and train was immediately stopped when someone in the train pulled the chain. After seeing fire we immediately pulled engulfed bogies from others,” said driver.