DOZENS KILLED AFTER TRAIN DERAILS IN SOUTHERN PAKISTAN

Sun 06 August 2023:

At least 22 people were killed and 80 were injured in Pakistan, after 10 bogies of the Rawalpindi-bound Hazara Express overturned as the train derailed.

The accident happened near the Sahara Railway Station, located between Shahzadpur and Nawabshah on Sunday, reported Geo TV.

The Hazara Express was headed to Rawalpindi from Karachi.

“Right now, the focus is on rescue work and recovering people from the derailed compartments,” Deputy Superintendent of Pakistan Railways Mahmood Rehman said, adding that the cause of the accident is being investigated.

Dozens killed after train derails in southern Pakistan

At least 15 people were killed while 40 others were injured after several bogies of the Hazara Express derailed near the Sarhari Railway Station in Nawabshah on Sunday, Radio Pakistan reported. pic.twitter.com/3R7sZGNJ3f

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Mohsin Syal, a railway official, earlier told HUM News channel that eight coaches of the Hazara Express, which was travelling from Karachi to Abbottabad, derailed near Sahara railway station in Nawabshah, about 275km (170 miles) from Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

Ijaz Shah, a provincial railway official, told the AFP news agency that several passengers were killed and many others injured in the accident, without providing an exact casualty figure.

Images posted to local media show dozens of people at the site, with some smashing windows to help passengers clamber out of the twisted carriages and at least one coach overturned.

The incident comes a day after the Allama Iqbal Express escaped a major disaster when two of its bogies derailed near Padidan railway station in the wee hours of Saturday, resulting in the suspension of traffic on the affected railway track. However, no casualty was reported in the incident, said rescue officials.

State-run Pakistan Television reported that the Pakistan Army and Rangers launched immediate relief activities at the accident site, with additional troops called in from Hyderabad and Skarund.

It added that the army chief issued special instructions for relief activities. Rescue teams of Pakistan Army and Rangers started reaching the accident site. It further said that army aviation helicopters were also sent for the rescue effort and personnel were also reaching the site with food items.

“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.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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