A blast in the Jaffar Express train near Chichawatni, Punjab, resulted in at least two fatalities including a woman, and six injuries.
The blast occurred when a cylinder blew up inside the washroom of the train’s economy-class bogie number four. This blast was powerful enough to blow its iron frame to pieces.
A 39UP Jaffar Express train was heading to Peshawar from Quetta when the blast occurred.
A 55 years old woman named Naziran Bibi was killed in the incident. She was traveling to Okara from Sadiqabad. There was no seat available for her. Hence she had to sit on the floor beside the washroom in bogie number four. Ms. Naziran died on the spot due to an explosion in the washroom.
Injured were taken to the district headquarters hospital in Chichawatni, according to rescue officials. Of those six injured, five were in critical condition. Two minor girls were also among the critical ones.
2 years old Eman Ali, 6 years old Noor Fatima were among the injured passengers. Additionally, Safia Bibi (35 years old), Iram Bibi (40), Aslam (30), and Imran Ali (27) were identified as injured. One wounded passenger could not be immediately identified.
Inspector general of the Railway Police Rao Sardar Ali said, “Nature of the blast is being assessed through forensic evidence.
The blast occurred at around 7 am. At that time, the train reached Kassowal, a town in the Chichawatni tehsil.
Balochistan Nationalist Army of the militant group claimed responsibility for this attack on social media. The train was moving at a slow speed when the blast occurred, eyewitnesses said.
CTD registered an FIR (No. 2/2023) from the train’s guard, Zafar Iqbal statement. It was registered under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
