Siraj wants minister to 'take responsibility' for deaths in train fire.

KARACHI -- Expressing his deep sorrow over the train fire tragedy, in which more than 70 people were killed near Rahim Yar Khan on Thursday morning, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Sirajul Haq urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the incident and ensure exemplary punishment to those responsible for it.

Calling for a judicial probe into the incident, he demanded that the railways minister, Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, take responsibility for the deaths. He asked Prime Minister Imran Khan who he held responsible for the train tragedy.

Addressing a press conference with retired Justice Wajihuddin Ahmed, he also criticised the 'containerisation' of Islamabad and the related hullabaloo that had muffled the voice of the oppressed people of India-held Kashmir.

'Pakistan Railways would provide free travel from Karachi to immediate family members'

Murad orders relief measures

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, expressing his grief over the tragic incident, directed the divisional administrations of Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas and Karachi to keep close contact with the Railways authorities and the Bahawalpur commissioner to transport back the dead and injured belonging to Sindh.

The chief minister told the commissioners of different divisions of the province that over 40 passengers of ill-fated Tezgam Express hailed from Karachi, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas. Their families were running from pillar to post to get firsthand information about their dear ones onboard the train.

He directed Commissioner of Hyderabad Abbas Baloch to set up a special desk in the DC office so that the bereaved families could contact it for necessary information.

He also directed him to make necessary arrangements for shifting of bodies and the injured people from Rahim Yar Khan back to Sindh. The chief minister also issued a similar directive to the commissioners of Karachi, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur.

Mr Shah through his principal secretary Sajid Jamal Abro offered every possible support to the Railways authorities and the Punjab government for retrieval of the bodies from the train and treatment of the passengers with burn injuries.

He said that his government and the people of Sindh were in great shock to see such a huge loss of lives in the train incident. 'May Allah save our people and the country from such horrible incidents,' said the chief minister.

Hospital emergency

The Sindh health ministry has asked authorities at all the major hospitals in Karachi...

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