The joint enquiry committee constituted to probe the Gujranwala train accident has submitted its report to the federal government according to which the cause of the mishap has been attributed to over-speeding.
“The train was over-speeding and running at more than double the permissible speed of 30 km per hour for group-1 locomotives,” said Aftab Akbar, spokesperson for Ministry of Railways.
“Over-speeding led to an increase in lateral and vertical oscillations, which resulted in the rear wheels of the locomotive truck to derail inside and outside the track,” added Akbar.
Earlier, an enquiry committee had been constituted, comprising of senior officers from the Ministry of Railways and Pakistan Army, to probe the cause of the train accident which led to the tragic accident and claimed the lives of 19 people, most of them army men.
The committee reached its conclusion after a detailed investigation in to the matter.
It is pertinent to mention that Railway engineers had earlier confirmed that there was no speed limit for the tracks and the Pakistan Express had passed the bridge at 65km per hour before the accident.
At least 19 people, including four army officers, were killed when locomotive and three carriages carrying soldiers from Pano Aqil to Kharian had plunged into a canal on July 2 near Gujranwala, apparently due to collapse of a bridge.
Addressing a press conference on July 6, Federal Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique had said that the locomotive was overspeeding and the driver had pulled emergency break some 945 feet before the Chanawan Bridge as a result of which the engine and bogies derailed.
He further said that the train had mysteriously exceeded the speed limit before the accident occurred.
The PML-N leader had also claimed earlier that the condition of both the tracks and the Chanawan Bridge was fine and even after the accident all but one of its pillars remained intact.
