Jammed wheels, damaged track main reasons for Hazara accident

Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique while strongly refuting news item appeared in section of press and social media on Monday said two jammed wheels of locomotive and damage piece of railway track were main reasons for the railway tragic accident near Nawabshah. Speaking at the National Assembly here, the minister said regretted that fake news was being circulated on both social media and some television networks. No wood was used in joints rather Parmelia fishplate was being used for railway signal system worldwide as the signal system did not work without it, he said. He explained that it was a special type of fishplate which was imported from Germany or Holland. Investigation into the accident was underway and its final report would come in next few days, he said. However, as per the initial report, out of 12 total wheels of locomotive were jammed when the train started its journey from Karachi which should have been removed. Besides, a piece of railway track near the accident site was also damaged, which led to the accident. He said 30 people have lost their lives and dozen sustained injuries in the tragic accident. Maximum casualties were due to capsizing of the bogies rather than derailment, he added. The minister said six railway officials have been suspended and financial compensation worth Rs 1.5 million each would be given to the families of deceased passengers as per railways standard operating procedures (SOPs). He thanked the Sindh government, army, ranger, Rescue 1122 and the local people for their prompt assistance. Saad Rafique also called for investment in railways as there was acute shortage of funds and staff. After the last year massive flash flood, they have requested the government for provision of funds but to extreme financial constraints, it could not be provided to the railways. He said ML-1 project has already been late as the past government did nothing in this regard. The project would be signed in October, he added. The minister also completely ruled out chance of any sabotage activity. Meanwhile, Pakistan Railways’ administration on Tuesday suspended six of its officials, including two 18-grade officers, in connection with the derailment of the Hazara Express near Nawabshah that left at least 30 people dead and scores injured last week. Ten bogies of Havelian-bound Hazara Express had derailed near Sarhari Railway Station in Sindh’s Sanghar district on Sunday, with Pakistan Railways (PR) officials stating the breakage of the railway line and hot axle, which jammed movement, as the reason. However, Railways Minister Saad Rafique had stated that the possibility of sabotage as well as a mechanical fault could not be ruled out. He had also termed the railway track to be fit. Later, a six-member team was constituted to probe the crash. In a notification issued Tuesday, the Ministry of Railways said six officers had been suspended with “immediate effect” and until further orders in connection with the tragedy in light of Rule-5 of Civil Servants (Efficiency and Discipline) Rules, 2020. The said officials included a divisional executive engineer from Sukkur, a diesel workshop manager in Karachi, the assistant executive engineer of Nawabshah, the permanent way officer of Shahdadpur, Kotri’s power controller and a keyman. The decision was issued with the approval of the Railways chairman, the notification added. The suspension comes a day after a departmental probe into the crash revealed that missing fishplates and a damaged track caused the derailment of the Hazara Express. “After checking from all the aspects, we came to [the] conclusion that [the] accident took place due to fresh rail broken and fishplates missing,” the report said. The team also identified skidding of the train’s locomotive as another reason behind the derailment. The report said the train engine had left the site without examination by senior subordinates. Moreover, “little hitting spots” were found on the iron fishplates and wooden terminal beyond the accident point. “Hence the engineering branch and mechanical branch are held responsible for this accident,” it read. The document added that sabotage cannot be rejected as the derailed coaches were dragged to a distance of 750 feet. The report also contained two dissenting notes Meanwhile, a PR official said it was a 220;very initial probe report” as the final one will take some time to prepare. “A detailed probe in this regard is underway as the Federal Government Inspector of Railways (a grade 22 officer) is on-site to find out the reason behind this tragedy,” he maintained.