On 31 October 2019,

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of track across Pakistan, stretching from Torkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger servic ...

Tezgam Tezgam ( ur, ) is a daily express train service between Karachi and Rawalpindi in Pakistan. ''Tezgam'' means "fast runner". It is one of the oldest and popular trains of Pakistan. It was started in 1950s between Karachi and Peshawar. Later its ...

passenger train caught fire while traveling from

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, resulting in at least 75 passenger deaths. The train accident was the deadliest in Pakistan since 2005, when the

Ghotki rail crash Ghotki rail crash may refer to: * 1991 Ghotki train crash *2005 Ghotki rail crash *2021 Ghotki rail crash On , before dawn, two trains collided near Daharki, in the Ghotki District of the southern province of Sindh in Pakistan, killing at ...

killed more than 100 people. Preliminary evidence suggested the explosion of a

portable stove A portable stove is a cooking stove specially designed to be portable and lightweight, used in camping, picnicking, backpacking, or other use in remote locations where an easily transportable means of cooking or heating is needed. Portable stov ...

occurred because some passengers illegally cooked food aboard the train. Such use of gas stoves is common on Pakistan's railways; train authorities often turn a blind eye to the dangerous practice.

Accident

The accident occurred at 6:18 a.m. PST (01:18 UTC) on Main Line 1 in

Liaquatpur tehsil Liaquatpur () is a tehsil located in Rahimyar Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and depen ...

Rahim Yar Khan district Rahim Yar Khan District ( ur, ) is a district in the of Punjab province, Pakistan and the city of Rahim Yar Khan is its capital. The city itself is administratively subdivided into nine Union Councils. Administrative The district of Rahim Yar ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

aboard the

express passenger train Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad ( ur, ; born 6 November 1950) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 38th Interior Minister of Pakistan from 2020 to 2022. He is famous because of his smoking cigars and Laal Haveli. He is the founder and leader of A ...

, the Pakistani Federal Minister for Railways, reported that two gas stoves exploded, setting the train on fire. Other reports, though, along with survivors' testimonies, suggested an electrical problem was the cause of the fire. The train was carrying 933 people, 207 of whom were in the three

carriages A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping ...

that were gutted. Ten

fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

s were dispatched to the scene of the fire and

Pakistani Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a resul ...

troops assisted in the

rescue operation Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...

. The most severely injured were taken to

Bahawal Victoria Hospital Bahawal Victoria Hospital ( ur, , abbreviated as BVH) is a hospital located in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. History Bahawalpur is home to numerous medical facilities, including hospitals and clinics. Nonetheless, Bahawal Victoria Hospital is a signi ...

Bahawalpur Bahawalpur () is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. With inhabitants as of 2017, it is Pakistan's 11th most populous city. Founded in 1748, Bahawalpur was the capital of the former princely state of Bahawalpur, ruled by the Abbasi f ...

and

Nishtar Hospital Nishtar Hospital is a teaching hospital of Nishtar Medical University, located in Multan, Pakistan. It is a tertiary care hospital, owned by the Government of Punjab. It serves a large population of South Punjab. Accredited hospital Nishtar ...

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the olde ...

. Those with less severe wounds were treated at DHQ hospital in

Liaquatpur Liaquatpur () is a city and capital of Liaquatpur Tehsil in Rahim Yar Khan District, Punjab, Pakistan. It is located on the north of Liaquatpur Tehsil, about 90 kilometres to the northeast of Rahim Yar Khan. As of 2017, it has a total population ...

and Shaikh Zayed Hospital in

Rahim Yar Khan Rahim Yar Khan () is a city in Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the 9th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is the capital of the Rahim Yar Khan District and Rahim Yar Khan Tehsil. The administration of the city is subdivided into ni ...

. According to witnesses, the train's fire took 20 minutes to put out. Another

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...

was dispatched to rescue stranded passengers and take them to

Victims

Some of the 75 victims died jumping from the moving train, which reportedly did not stop until about 20 minutes after the fire broke out, despite the

communication cord On trains, the expression emergency brake has several meanings: * The ''maximum'' brake force available to the engine driver from the conventional braking system, usually operated by taking the brake handle to its furthest position, through a gat ...

being pulled. Fifty-seven of the dead were burned beyond recognition;

DNA tests Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

were needed for identification. At least 43 passengers were injured, 11 critically.

Reaction

The Prime Minister of Pakistan,

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

, ordered an immediate inquiry into the accident. Sheikh Rasheed, the railways minister, announced a ₨1.5 million compensation fund for each of the families of the dead, as well as ₨0.5 million for those injured. Six railway officers were suspended after the accident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tezgam train fire, 2019 2019 disasters in Pakistan 2019 fires in Asia 2019 in Punjab, Pakistan Accidents and incidents involving Pakistan Railways Disasters in Punjab, Pakistan Fires in Pakistan October 2019 events in Pakistan Rahim Yar Khan District Railway accidents in 2019 Train and subway fires

Accident

Victims

Reaction

See also

References