Bhatt said there was a long queue of people in Pakistan who wanted to visit India for search for relatives. “Television par dekha sab kuchh, ab pata nahi kya kare, kisko mile,” said Bhatt, adding that they were told that they would be first taken to Panipat and then to Delhi.

The relatives of the tragedy-struck families said though the news was received with shock in Pakistan, there was no resentment, only remorse. “Dahashatgardo ka kaam hai, aur kya (It is an act of terrorists, what else),” said Hamir Raza.

Meanwhile, it was a tense evening for relatives who reached Panipat from Delhi to look for relatives. “Seven of us had come to Delhi from Multan to meet our cousins on February 13. We had been unable to come for the engagement of our cousin’s daughter, so we decided to pay a visit now. What did we know we would lose our loved ones here,” said Hukumuddin, a 54-year-old electrician. He is here looking for his elder brother Umruddin and nephew Yunus.

Umruddin (65) had boarded the train with his 25-year-old son Yunus and brother-in-law Kamruddin while the rest of the family decided to stay on in Delhi for a few more days for sight-seeing. “I wish they had stayed back too, and this day would have never come. Today, we identified Yunus’ body here. His father is still untraceable. I have looked everywhere, scanned all lists, called up Lahore to find out if he managed to get there somehow,” said Hukumuddin. Yunus had got engaged last November.

... contd.