Two bogies had derailed on Saturday after the train hit an explosive device planted on tracks
From The Hindu
MOHAMMED IQBAL
MOHAMMED IQBAL
JAIPUR, December 5, 2010 The Thar Express from Pakistan, two bogies of which were detached after their derailment in a suspected terror attack near a small railway station 67 km from Karachi, arrived at the Munabao railway station near the international border in Rajasthan, several hours behind schedule on Saturday evening. There was no loss of life or injury in the mishap.
According to sources at the northwest railway divisional office in Jodhpur, the train was carrying 219 passengers, including 109 Indians and 110 Pakistanis, who alighted at Munabao to catch the Jodhpur-bound Indian train that will take them to the Bhagat Ki Kothi railway station.
The Border Security Force and railway officials reached Munabao on receiving information about the derailment. The train hit an explosive device planted on the tracks near Dhabeji station at Thatta in Sindh province of Pakistan.
Reports received by the Jodhpur railway officials stated that one of the two low-intensity bombs planted at the site, exploded when the train hit it, damaging a portion of the track. Rescue teams were dispatched from Karachi to the spot and the provincial police later defused the second bomb.
The train continued its journey to Rajasthan after the Pakistan railway authorities detached the partially damaged and derailed bogies. All passengers who got off at Munabao were stated to be “safe and sound.”
Under the agreement between Indian and Pakistan railways, the Thar Express comes from Karachi once every week during a six-month block to cross the international border, and the passengers are picked up by an Indian train at Munabao for their onward journey to Jodhpur. The train had departed shortly before midnight —according to Pakistan Standard Time — from the Karachi Cantonment railway station.
Reports appearing on the Pakistani news websites stated that the provincial police and bomb disposal squad had seized parts of the damaged railway track and explosives found at the scene. Traffic on the track would resume after it is repaired.
The blast was suspected to have been executed by groups based in Pakistan. About 70 persons, mostly from Pakistan, were killed when the Samjhauta Express, running between the two countries via Attari, was bombed near Panipat in Haryana in 2007.
The rail link between India and Pakistan via the Munabao-Khokhrapar route was restored in February 2006, after a gap of 41 years, to reduce the distance and journey time for people from central and southern Indian States travelling to Pakistan to meet relatives. Forming part of the “confidence building measures,” the train has gained popularity among the travellers from both the countries.
The link is equally important for Mohajirs (refugees) — migrants from India — living mostly in urban areas of Sindh, who earlier used to travel in the Samjhauta Express via the circuitous Attari route. Restarting of the train was a major demand of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
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