15 killed, nearly 50 injured in train accident in Pakistan

Karachi, Aug 6 (PTI) At least 15 people were killed and nearly 50 others injured on Sunday after several bogies of an express train derailed in Pakistan’s Sindh province, officials said.

The Hazara Express train en route from Karachi to Rawalpindi derailed near the Sarhari Railway Station in Nawabshah district in Sindh province.

Deputy Superintendent of Pakistan Railways Mahmood Rehman confirmed that at least 15 bodies were recovered from the damaged bogies while around 50 injured people were being taken to hospitals.

Television channels showed the crash site with train compartments badly damaged near the station, 275 kilometers from Karachi. They showed rescue workers and police trying to pull out people from the derailed compartments along with civilians who also joined the rescue work.

“Right now, the focus is on rescue work and recovering people from the derailed compartments,” Rehman said.

He said that the cause of the accident is being investigated.

State-run Radio Pakistan reported that the Pakistan Army and Rangers have started relief and rescue activities at the accident site.

The rescue operation has been started on the special directives of Army chief General Asim Munir, it added.

Additional troops have been called in to assist the rescue operation. Army Aviation helicopters are also reaching the spot to rescue the injured people.

“The rescue operation of Pakistan Army will continue till the transfer of the last injured to the hospital and the rehabilitation of the people trapped at the accident site,” it said.

A spokesperson of the Pakistan Railways in Karachi said at least eight bogies derailed and the intensity of the accident increased due to delayed application of brakes.

The official said the affected bogies would be lifted off the track in a few hours using heavy machines and added that trains departing from Karachi might face delays.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, Federal Minister for Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique said the reports suggested that 15 people had died and several were injured.

The train, carrying over 1,000 passengers, was travelling at a reasonable speed, which initial investigations showed, he said, adding that an emergency was imposed in hospitals in Sukkur and Nawabshah.

“It was either a mechanical fault or it was developed,” he was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

Pakistan Railways Sukkur Divisional Commercial Officer (DCO) Mohsin Siyal said that an unknown number of bogies had derailed.

Some people are reporting that five bogies derailed, some are saying eight have derailed and some are saying 10 have derailed,” he said.

Shaheed Benzirabad Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Muhammad Younis Chandio termed the incident a “big accident”. However, the official refrained from confirming the number of casualties, the report said.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, whose Pakistan Peoples’ Party is in power in the province, directed the Sindh government to provide immediate treatment to the passengers injured in the train accident and also called on PPP workers to participate in relief and rescue activities.

Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed grief over the lives lost in the incident.

In a statement, he directed the Nawabshah deputy commissioner to provide the injured with immediate medical assistance.

In April, seven people were killed when a fire broke out in a bogie of the Karachi Express travelling from Karachi to Lahore near Tando Masti Khan in the Khairpur district of the southern Sindh province.