Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Horrific.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Indian Railway has acted promptly this time. Minister has announced relief package of Rs. 10 lakh for the next of kin to those who are killed and a job to one family member.
Although this will not relieve the grief of those sufferring, it may help to those family members who have lost their earning member.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
From the BBC website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6374377.stm
“I heard a loud explosion and then it was all smoke,” passenger Tara Chand was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
“Looking at the intensity of the smoke, many people must have suffocated to death before being charred.”
Security precautions on the train meant many doors were bolted shut and most windows had bars covering them which may have trapped some passengers inside.
The BBC’s Soutik Biswas, reporting from the scene, said the heat of the flames had peeled the blue paint off the coaches, and oil and burnt cinders covered the tracks.
What a horrific way to die… trapped inside, unable to escape.
Were these security precautions designed to keep people in or keep people out of the train? Which government had insisted on having them?
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Security precautions on the train meant many doors were bolted shut and most windows had bars covering them which may have trapped some passengers inside.
The BBC's Soutik Biswas, reporting from the scene, said the heat of the flames had peeled the blue paint off the coaches, and oil and burnt cinders covered the tracks.
What a horrific way to die... trapped inside, unable to escape.
Were these security precautions designed to keep people in or keep people out of the train? Which government had insisted on having them?
Security like these are just stupidity. This type of so called security arrangements once again prove, why we are not able to stop terrorists from targetting trains, let it be Mumbai or Samjhauta express. Instead of checking-scanning passengers/luggages, they close emergency doors.
I am still wondering if the doors were bolted shut and there was no emergency exit, how come this train passed the fire safety/emergency regulation and tests, before being inducted as a passenger train??
An Independent enquiry is a must in this case, which should also cover all aspects including the fire safety regulations!!
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
*Matrubhumi you will probably recall that idiot engineers of state owned Integral Coach Factory about three years back were talking about a fire proof design..God only knows what happened to that wishful initiative? *
Emergency exits in these trains are like rat holes and very difficult to identify. Moreover, luggage is strewn in aisle which makes movement of people difficult. This train is nothing but a cage carrying people from one end to another. Terrorists will love to have such targets.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
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apart from lack of adherence to fire and safety regulation, it's sickening to find that even after Mumbai blasts, our government is sleeping as usual.
Most shocking is the fact that this train is a cross-border train travelling from one country to another (and not any inter-city or inter-state trains of IR).
There should have been some sort of baggage and passenger scaning, at least for the sake of prevention of international illicit drug smuggling, if not for explosives!!
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Islamists accused of Indian train bombing
By Peter Foster and Rahul Bedi in Panipat
Last Updated: 12:25pm GMT 19/02/2007
Islamist militants were accused of trying to derail the nascent Indo-Pakistan peace process today after two bombs exploded on the New Delhi-to-Lahore 'Friendship Express’ killing at least 67 people, including women and children.
Railway carriages were completely gutted by the flames
The blasts, which killed mostly Pakistanis returning home after visiting relatives in India, came just 24 hours before Pakistan’s foreign minister was due in New Delhi for a fresh round of peace talks.
Both countries moved swiftly to insist that the talks, which began three years ago in an attempt to resolve a 60-year-old dispute over the Himalayan state of Kashmir, would not be derailed by terrorism.
India’s prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, issued a statement expressing “anguish and grief” at the loss of lives, vowing that the “culprits will be caught.”.
India’s home minister Shiv Raj Patil confirmed India’s resolve not to allow terrorism to interfere with improved links with Pakistan.
"Whoever has done it is against peace, against the friendly ties that we are trying to build with other countries,” he said.
New Delhi’s response was in marked contrast to July last year when Islamist militant groups were blamed for causing 186 deaths in a co-ordinated series of bomb blasts on the commuter rail network in India’s commercial capital, Mumbai.
In that case, India moved quickly to blame Pakistan for failing to rein in militant groups who have been fighting a 18-year insurgency in Kashmir and formally put further peace talks with Pakistan on hold.
Pakistan also moved quickly to shore up the talks process, confirming that foreign minister Khursheed Kuasuri would be arriving in New Delhi as planned this morning to complete two days of talks.
"I will be leaving tomorrow for Delhi to further the peace process,” Mr Kasuri said in Islamabad. “In fact, if at all, we should hasten the peace process.”
Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, described the attack as a “heinous crime” that was intended to create rising tensions between India and Pakistan, but would have the opposite effect.
"Such wanton acts of terrorism will only serve to further strengthen our resolve to attain the mutually desired objective of sustainable peace between the two countries,” he said.
The attack, mounted using crude kerosene-based incendiary devices packed into suitcases, set off fires in two of the carriages shortly after midnight local time as the train reached Panipat, a industrial town 50 miles north of New Delhi.
The Indo-Pakistan train link, known as the 'Friendship Express’ was re-started after a two year hiatus in 2004 as a concrete peace dividend, reuniting families divided by the Partition of India in 1947.
Indian police at the scene said that the death toll would have been considerably higher had two other explosive devices, which were found on the train, not failed to detonate.
Local witnesses described how passengers leapt from the train with their clothes on fire as the screams of those trapped inside filled the night.
However, as most Indian trains have steel rods instead of glass fitted in the windows many were left trapped as temperatures rose high enough to melt metal and fuse doors closed.
Rajinder Prasad, a laborer who lives near the tracks, said he had rushed to the scene with his neighbours, scooping up water from a reservoir and throwing it at the flames, which flew high above the carriages.
"We couldn’t save anyone,” he said.
“They were screaming inside, but no one could get out.”
Within minutes, he added, the screams were drowned out by the roaring flames.
There were scenes of great distress at Panipat’s Civil Hospital where relatives came to identify the charred remains of their loved ones, many of whom police said will be identified only by post mortem.
Mohammed Wasim Khan, 42, a Muslim whose family was divided at Partition, told how he had dropped off his uncle, Safiq Khan and nephew and niece, Harish, 15 and Sami, 9 at New Delhi station.
His uncle had been killed, he said, while the two children were in a serious condition in a burns unit at a New Delhi hospital.
"My uncle is dead, he has been identified from his passport. What am I going to tell my cousins?,” he sobbed, standing outside the Panipat hospital mortuary. “What will I tell them?”
Islamists suspected of Pakistan blast
Gul Yousafzai | Quetta, Pakistan
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
My post was deleted went i said militants and *** may be involved. But most news analysts suspect Islamists were behind this.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL331255.htm
And the writer is a Muslim, Yousafzai- FYI.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Denada,
Finger pointing will be the order of the the day. A person who is sadist and hell bent on playing mischief will be least bothered about religion. A society which gives credence to speculation/rumour mongering can never ever be a matured society.
Let see whether much touted reforms in police and/or investigating agencies are implemented or not, even after this shocking incident.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
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dear, I have witnessed Mumbai train serial blasts (the one which exploded near Mahim), and I can still remember the pain and anger among Mumbai people after that.
However this time I hold our government responsible. They can never wake up. Look at the security arrangements. As I said previously this is a cross-border train, how come there are no checks for baggages???
Do we expected terrorists to become saints or followers of non-violence, once this train was started??
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Security is very difficult for over populated third world countries like India and Pakistan, mired in dirty politics and corruption.
Lets see what Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rail Minister does?
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
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agreed, huge population and over-crowding makes it extremely difficult to give a fool proof security like US or UK have.
But this case is very different, Samjhauta Express is not a local train running 24 hours in Mumbai suburb, it's a train crossing an international border. So as usual passenger baggages must be checked like any other international travel. This will prevent not only explosives but also the illicit drug trade. It is reported that there were no baggage checks for passengers in this case.
coming back to famous Railway Minister Lallu Prasad, let's give credit to him this time. He has acted fast and announced a relief package of 10 lakhs for dead persons kin and a job to one family member in railways.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Do they screen the baggage of passengers? If not, its extremely easy for anyone to carry out a blast.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
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No the passenger baggages were never checked although it’s a cross-country travel. This is the lapse which terrorists were able to exploit. I blame it on government.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
yaar what is the educational profile of these police wallas, third division in 8th or 10th grade. How do you expect this rot to work efficiently. Poorly paid, overworked and lack of infrastructure etc. On the other hand IPS officers have to clear tough written exam before they get into the service. You see there is complete mismatch between the too. A highly educated officer has to deal with a bunch of illiterates.
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I have travelled in almost all sorts of trains in India. Baggage checking is almost nil and if it happens they start opening these bags depending upon the appearance of a person, a shabbily dressed person will be an easy victim. Manual screening can be easily avoided if these fellows have handy metal detectors or sniffer dogs. *
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Installing a CCTV camera in a railway station requires a parliamentary approval. That's the kind of red tapism and bureaucracy in this country. I won't be surprised if such attacks keep on occuring regularly in near future also.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Terror strikes again.
When will the day come when India and Pakistan fight together against terror?
This shouldn't be another blame-game between India and Pakistan. these aren't the opposite parties here. The real opposites when it comes to cold-blooded terrorist acttacks like these, the real opposite parties are CIVILISATION and TERROR.
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
This shouldn't be another blame-game between India and Pakistan. these aren't the opposite parties here. The real opposites when it comes to cold-blooded terrorist acttacks like these, the real opposite parties are CIVILISATION and TERROR.
So long we have social inequalites, corruption, greed, hypocrisy (many Indians are notorious for that), breeding population, animosity towards one another, I am superior to you or vice versa things will never improve. Take it from me, we will witness more and more such kind of barbaric acts. It will be very difficult to say that elements belonging to one faith were responsible. *
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Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070219/ids_photos_wl/r2031539839.jpg
Anti India protests in Pakistan to protest BUM blasts
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Protesters believe that these are sponsored by Bush and Manmohan Singh ???
Re: 62 dead in suspected blast on India-Pakistan train
Hindu Militants did burn a train in UP earlier this month.
Hindus burn train in Uttar Pradesh
Three coaches of a train were set ablaze in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday by right-wing Hindus demanding the release of their leader, but no one was hurt as the few passengers on board jumped to safety, officials said. The attack, in Mohammadabad town, 350 km east of Lucknow, the state capital, comes in the wake of Hindu-Muslim clashes in the nearby district of Gorakhpur where two people were killed earlier this week. A senior railway official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters a group of people chanting pro-Hindu slogans burnt the coaches of a train travelling from Mumbai to Gorakhpur. “The train was stopped and passengers jumped out of the affected coaches,” he said. “Two coaches were completely gutted.” Most passengers had disembarked at earlier stations. A police official said the attackers were members of the right-wing group, Hindu Vahini, demanding the release of their leader, saffron-clad ascetic-turned-lawmaker Yogi Adityanath. Adityanath was arrested earlier this week for allegedly fuelling communal violence in Gorakhpur where rioters have set ablaze many buildings and vehicles. The clashes were triggered by a drunken scuffle between two wedding guests.