Wednesday, August 27, 2025
spot_img
HomeBreaking News30 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a train...

30 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a train accident near Nawab Shah

- Advertisement -

Nawabshah: At least 30 people were killed and over 80 injured when 10 bogies of the Hazara Express train derailed between Shahzadpur and Nawabshah, at least 275 km from Karachi, on Sunday, officials said.

Commissioner Benazirabad Division Abbas Baloch said in a statement that at least 30 people were killed in the incident while the passengers are still trapped in the bogie.

He said that a relief train is also coming and emergency has been declared in the hospitals of the district.

Accidents are common on Pakistan’s dilapidated rail system, and successive governments have for years sought funding for infrastructure projects to upgrade the rail network as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Benazirabad Deputy Inspector General of Police Younis Chandio said that 9 out of 10 damaged bogies have been cleared, the injured and dead bodies have been removed.

He said that heavy machinery is needed to clear the remaining bogies.The reason for the derailment of the train is not yet known.

People at the scene and local authorities have shifted the injured passengers to the People’s Medical Hospital in Nawabshah, which can reportedly treat around 1,000 people.

Train services to and from Sindh’s interior districts were suspended after the train accident, affecting the routine of thousands of people, with railway officials saying it could take up to 18 hours to resume operations.

Officials fear heavy loss of property and lives as the ill-fated train was carrying a large number of people, which is beyond its capacity.

The train, which had a capacity of 950 passengers in economy class and 72 in its air-conditioned standard coach, derailed on its way to Havelian from Karachi in Sanghar district, the Senior Superintendent of Police said.

He said that 10 Station House Officers (SHOs), four District Superintendents of Police (DSPs), and more than 100 police personnel are participating in the rescue operation.

Federal Minister of Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafiq said during the press conference that someone has deliberately caused the accident and it could also be a mechanical fault.

“First we will provide relief and then investigate. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah is reaching the scene. Emergency has been declared in Sukkur hospitals,” the federal minister said.

All hospitals have been alerted

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon told reporters that 19 people have been confirmed dead and more than 50 injured.

He said that the entire machinery of the Sindh government has been dispatched to the accident site for relief operations and added that those who are seriously injured will be shifted to Karachi for medical assistance.

The provincial minister further said that all the district hospitals including Sanghar and Nawabshah have been alerted.

There were scenes of chaos at the Nawab Shah Trauma Center as ambulances and private cars rushed the injured for treatment.

A man jumped out of the back of an ambulance holding a child, his clothes soaked in blood, while a woman moaned in pain as she was carried away on a stretcher.

“We don’t know what happened, we were just sitting inside,” said one shocked woman.

Dozens of cars, tractors, rickshaws and motorcycles can be seen parked on the road running alongside the track at the accident site outside Nawabshah.

Volunteers were wading through a canal that separates the road from the railway line to help, and were carrying the wounded to help.

Some of the passenger coaches were upright but off the tracks, while others lay on their sides, the broken steel from the undercarriage twisted and scattered.

Army and Rangers are involved with police in relief operations.

A large number of police personnel from the Police Training Center are also present for relief operations.

After the special instructions issued by Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, Pakistan Army also joined the rescue activities at the accident site.

Army aviation helicopters from Hyderabad and Skarund have also called in additional personnel. Army personnel will reach the scene with food and drink for the rescued passengers.

Meanwhile, Rangers officials told JEE News that according to Sindh Rangers Director General (DG) Major General Azhar Waqas, paramilitary force personnel have also been dispatched for relief operations.

“Trained personnel have been immediately dispatched to the accident site for rescue,” the people said, adding that officials would immediately shift the injured to hospital.

Ambulances have also reached the spot where the rescued passengers are being given medical aid and food.

Accidents

It should be noted that the same locomotive going from Karachi to Havelian escaped a major accident in March this year after the railway authorities put the rusty train on the tracks. Fortunately no one was hurt.

The latest accident occurred just a day after three bogies of Allama Iqbal Express from Karachi to Sialkot derailed, but no one was injured.

Pakistan has a poor record of train accidents. In the last decade, the country has seen a number of fatal train accidents, and their frequency seems to have increased in the last few years.

In June 2021, two trains collided near Deharki in Sindh, killing at least 65 people and injuring around 150.In the accident, an express derailed on the opposite track, and another passenger train was hit by debris about a minute later.

In October 2019, at least 75 passengers were burnt to death when a Tezgam Express train caught fire, while over 100 people were killed in a collision between two trains in Ghotki in 2005.

- Advertisement -
RELATED ARTICLES

Leave a Reply

- Advertisment -spot_img

Most Popular