MULTAN: At least one person was killed and nine others were wounded in a blast inside the Jaffar Express train near Punjab’s Chichawatni on Thursday morning, police said.
According to Sahiwal District Police Officer (DPO) Faisal Shahzad, the injured persons have been moved to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ).
The police official said the passenger train had left from Balochistan’s Machh and was en route to Peshawar.
“As per the statements of the eyewitnesses, the blast occurred inside the washroom area after the train left the Mian Channu station,” he told reporters.
Shahzad said specialised teams of the counter-terrorism department and Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) had arrived at the site and were collecting evidence. “We are trying to ascertain the nature of the blast and will share details will you in the due course of time,” he added.
Meanwhile, Multan Deputy Superintendent Hammad Hasan said teams of the police and CTD have cordoned off the area and begun investigations.
“As soon as we get some information, we will share it with the media,” he said.
In response to a question regarding the nature of the blast, Hasan said that different versions of statements from in-vestigators and passengers were being circulated. “But so far, the Railways has not released any official statement re-garding the attack. Police investigations are also underway.”
He further said that officials have recorded statements of eyewitnesses and information regarding the “chain of activi-ties is being collected”.
The DS also said that the train was stopped on the outskirts of Chichawatni after the driver observed that there was some problem in the coaches. –Agencies
