New Delhi: Lahore resident Ghulam Geelani landed in Panipat in the early hours of Wednesday after a long lonely ride from Pakistan. He has come to look for his son Mohd Iqbal, who was on his way back home on the ill-fated Samjhauta Express after attending a marriage in Delhi.
But since the Sunday midnight tragedy, there has been no news of Mohd Iqbal.
"I am looking for my son Mohd Iqbal, who had come to Delhi for a marriage," Geelani said after landing in Panipat. He was not sure whether his son was among the victims. "I haven't heard about him. He was not among the survivors who returned to Pakistan."
Another Lahorite Mohammad Akthar was also in Panipat on Wednesday looking for his relative Mohammad Akbar. Akbar, too, has been untraceable after the tragedy.
Like Geelani and Akhtar, many other relatives of the Pakistani nationals who have been missing in the Samjhauta Express tragedy have landed in Panipat to trace their kith and kin. But they have been facing immense difficulty in identifying the dead from the charred remains.
The relatives, who have come from various Pakistani cities, are carrying passport numbers of their near and dear ones who were on the ill-fated train. But Haryana administration officials were at pains to help them as they did not have complete details of the victims of the train tragedy.
One problem hindering the identification of the victims has been the fact that many of the passengers were traveling in the unreserved compartments and the Railway authorities have no data on them.
"The Railway officials have not given us complete details about the passengers traveling in the unreserved compartments," a Haryana government official, who was present when the relatives examined the charred remains at the mortuary of the Panipat Civil Hospital, said.
Only 17 of the 68 people killed in the Sunday night's tragedy have been identified so far. Thirteen of them are Pakistani nationals.
Many of the relatives, who arrived in Panipat early on Wednesday after a long lonely ride, could not maintain their composure after seeing the 50-odd bodies lined up at the Panipat Civil Hospital and they broke down after seeing only two or three bodies.
"Most relatives have decided not to go any further as they were unable to maintain their composure," an Haryana government official said.
Amid the cries and wails of the heart-broken relatives, woes spilled over at the Panipat Civil Hospital, further compounding the atmosphere, which was already poignant with grief and gloom.
For Zahid Hussain and his 21-year-old nephew Mohsin Mohammad, also from Pakistan, it would be another long journey to Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh for the burial of their five family members, whose bodies were claimed by their relative Vakil Ahmad.
"We are a big family with relations in India as well as Pakistan," said Hussain, who appeared to be in his 50s. The Hussains hail from Hyderabad in Pakistan's Sindh province. The nine relatives of the victims include Sham Lal, from Sialkot, who said he saw two of his injured relatives, Ashok and Ramesh, on a news channel.
"They are undergoing treatment at Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi," said Lal, who also knew their bed numbers.
Mahmood Akhtar, a Lahore resident, has come searching for his uncle Abdul Majid who was on the train. Mohammad Asif Bhatt and Mohammad Shahazad are here to find the relatives of Shahazad's wife.
The relatives of the tragedy-struck families said though the news was received with shock in Pakistan, there was no resentment, only remorse. Among the identified victims were Lalit Kumar (37), a travel ticket examiner from Old Mahavir Nagar in Delhi and Yunus Umaruddin of Multan in Pakistan.
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