Pakistan Railways authorities were responsible for the massive fire on the Tezgam Express in October, a report has said.

Seventy-four people were killed on October 31 after the Tezgam Express caught fire near Rahim Yar Khan. The fire spread to three bogies of the moving train. It was heading to Rawalpindi from Karachi and was near the Tanwari Railway Station when the fire erupted. More than 40 people were injured.

The Railway authorities, including Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed, had blamed passengers who had brought cylinders on the train. The passengers, all from the Tableeghi Jamaat, had brought gas cylinders and were cooking food when one exploded, causing the fire, authorities had said.

But a Railways report released on Wednesday placed the blame on the Railway authorities, not the passengers. The dining car manager and waiters had set up a makeshift kitchen in bogies 11 and 12, said the report. That is where the fire broke out.

The situation was compounded due to the gas cylinders in the train but did not occur due to them, said the report. The cylinders exploded after the train caught fire, making it worse.

The waiters and dining car manager used the makeshift kitchen to make tea and food for passengers.

The report also held five Railways officers, including the deputy divisional superintendent of Karachi and divisional commercial officers in Karachi and Hyderabad responsible for not stopping passengers who brought gas cylinders on the train.

According to the ministry, there were 933 passengers on the train and 207 in the three bogies that caught fire.

Federal Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed had told SAMAA TV at the time of the accident that the fire broke out at 6:30am. There were two coaches booked by members of the Tableeghi Jamaat who were going to a gathering in Raiwind, he said, adding that they had brought two cylinders with them and stoves to cook food. One cylinder exploded, triggering the second one as well, said the minister. Their two coaches and a business class coach caught fire, he said,

It was an accident and we will have to take notice of things like this, he had said.