12 more Samjhauta victims identified

NEW DELHI: Twelve more victims, including a mother and a daughter from Pakistan, of the Samjhauta Express were identified on Thursday.

With this, the total number of bodies identified has risen to 38, including one Harif Mohammed who succumbed to his injuries in Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.

Relatives have identified ten Pakistani victims and two Indians -- 65-year-old Bano, a resident of Aligarh, and Anwar, who hails from Gujarat.

Among the identified Pakistani victims were a mother-daughter duo -- Anam and Mamuna (all from Karachi). Their son, Burkham, also died in the tragedy. A relative also identified Unus Nazeem and his wife Marium Banoo.

So far, the bodies of 31 Pakistanis and seven Indians, kept in the mortuary have been identified.

Sixty-eight people, including Pakistani nationals, were killed when two blasts ripped through the trans-border Samjhauta Express on Sunday night at Deewana, about 100 km from Delhi.

After completing formalities, officials said, relatives of 14 Pakistani victims have already taken the bodies to their home country.

Meanwhile, bodies of six victims, including five Pakistani nationals, will be buried tomorrow in a village near here as local authorities sought permission for burying the unidentified bodies.

The local administration, unable to preserve the unidentified bodies of the blasts victims beyond two more days, has sought the advice of higher authorities if they can be buried here.