A train driver was suspended on Tuesday for making an unscheduled stop to buy yogurt near Kahna railway station, Lahore.
A video of the driver’s assistant making the purchase at a shop before climbing back into the carriage went viral on social media.
The Federal Minister for Railways, Azam Khan Swati, took action against the incident based on the video and directed the Pakistan Railways administration to suspend driver Rana Mohammad Shehzad and his assistant Iftikhar Hussain for being negligent while on duty.
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The minister warned that he “will not tolerate such events in the future and allow anyone to use national assets for personal use.”
The video attracted criticism from the Railways Department, which has already been marred with various issues of accidents, passenger safety, and declining revenue.
“When you stop a train in the middle (of the tracks) it becomes a safety issue. Safety is our priority. We cannot tolerate anything which compromises safety,” Syed Ijaz-ul-Hassan Shah, a spokesman for the Ministry of Railways, told AFP on Wednesday.
Another Railway official told the publication that such incidents are not uncommon in Pakistan and that there is a lack of oversight.
Video Courtesy: ARY News
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