5 children of a family die in Samjhauta blast
'Pakistan Times' Wire Service

FAISALABAD: Rana Shaukat Ali and his wife Ruksana from Faisalabad lost five of their six children to the Samjhauta Express blaze. The two themselves are battling for life at Safdarjung Hospital in India.

Of the happy unit of eight which went to Delhi a month ago, only three members remain. Shaukat Ali, 46, had come to attend the wedding of cousin Jamat Ali's daughter in Delhi.

One-year-old Aqsa, the only child of the family to survive the blast, suffered 10% burns and severe inhalation injuries. Doctors attending to her said the latter were more a cause for worry.

Till late Monday morning, Shaukat and Ruksana both admitted with 10% burns hadn't been told about their children. But they knew.

The kids got trapped under luggage which fell from the rack. The parents kept trying to pull the kids' out but failed. The compartment was blazing and by this time the whole roof had caved in. Ruksana and Shaukat, who were near the door, had to just get out with Aqsa.

Ayesha was 14, the eldest son Bilal, two years younger to Ayesha, their relatives had seen for the first time when they came for the wedding. Hamza was about 10. The two others were aged eight and six.

Rana Shaukat's relatives in New Delhi have informed his brothers in Faisalabad about the tragedy. Shaukat's brother Habib-ur-Rehman said the incident took place due to negligence of Indian security forces.●