At least four people were killed and more than 100 injured when two trains collided at Buch 26km south-west of Multan early on Thursday, officials said. The accident occurred around 2:30am when the Karachi-bound Awami Express passenger train rammed into a goods train which had stopped after running over a man crossing the railway track.
The Awami Express, heading to Karachi from Peshawar, struck a goods train which was standing on the tracks. Rescue officials said that around 50 injured were shifted to Nishtar Hospital, Multan, while more than 50 were provided first aid on the spot. Dr Kaleem, a Rescue Emergency Officer said that the rescue operations had been completed. He added that 40 ambulances, along with 200 rescuers from Lodhran, Muzafar Garh and Multan participated in the operations.
Personnel of the Pakistan Army also participated in the rescue operations. Saima Khizar, Director Vigilance of Pakistan Railways, Multan Division, said that the affected people were being shifted to Multan through private transport, from where they would be transported to Karachi.
She further said that efforts were being made to clear the railway track. She added that it would take up to 18 hours to make the track functional. Railway official Saima blamed the accident on the passenger train driver, saying he failed to heed a red signal that went up after the goods train had stopped. Senior General Manager Railway Javed Anwar has ordered an inquiry into the accident and Federal Government Inspector Railway Muhammad Arshad was appointed as inquiry officer.
He said that damaged bogies were detached and other bogies proceeded to Karachi via Khanewal-Lodhran. He hoped that track would be cleared in three to four hours. Last November, 19 people were killed in Pakistan's south western Balochistan province after a train's brakes failed and it sped down the side of a mountain. In July 2015, at least 17 people were killed when a special military train fell into a canal after a bridge partially collapsed.
"At least four people have been killed and scores others wounded," local district administration official Nadir Chattha told reporters. Local state-run rescue service spokesperson Abdul Jabbar told AFP the number of injured exceeded 100. TV footage showed rescue officials working around crumpled and overturned bogies in the darkness. Chatta said several trapped passengers had to be extracted from their carriages. A three-day public holiday for the festival of Eid-ul-Azha ended on Wednesday, with many returning from their family homes to the cities where they work.
Comments
Comments are closed.