A diary was found in a wallet from another pocket. It had a North Karachi telephone number. On the wallet, there’s an inscription: Azhar weds Uzma, 22 January 2006, a gift for you.

Another call, explaining Panipat. “My brother-in-law Syed Iqhtar Ali, his wife Ashraf, son Haftar Ali (7), daughter Mehak (3) and his brother-in-law Sayeed Azhar Ali and wife Razia were on the train. We are waiting in Lahore,” said a woman who took the call.

An hour later, Syed Iqhtar Ali’s brother-in-law in India, Navi Mohammad Khan, reached Panipat and identified him from a half-burnt pen he had gifted him before the train left Delhi. “I can’t recognise anyone else. They are not among the injured and there’s no news of them reaching Lahore. They are probably dead.” Policemen consoled him, saying don’t give up hope. “Wait till all bodies are completely identified.”

Another Indian casualty identified was 51-year-old Shakina Begum of Seelampur in Delhi, travelling to Pakistan for the first time to visit relatives. Also dead were two RPF men: ASI Kashmir Singh and Constable Rajendra Pal. As night fell, some 50 caskets reached the hospital.