Dozens Killed In Pakistan Train Crash

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

ISLAMABAD (Worthy News) – Pakistani police said at least 30 people were killed and 100 injured when a train derailed in southern Pakistan, underscoring broader concerns about railway safety in the Asian nation.

Several carriages of the Hazara Express overturned near Sahara railway station in Nawabshah, about 275 kilometers (171 miles) from the largest city Karachi.

Wounded passengers were moved to nearby hospitals, and rescue teams tried to free people from the twisted wreckage, witnesses said.

Railway Minister Saad Rafiq said initial investigations showed the train was traveling at average speed, and they were trying to establish what led to the derailment.

A railways spokesperson in Karachi said at least eight carriages went off the track. Some people were reportedly still trapped inside a train carriage.

The latest incident came after major accidents on Pakistan’s antiquated railway system already killed hundreds of people since 2005, according to official data.

In June 2021, two trains collided near Daharki in Sindh, killing at least 65 people and injuring about 150 others. Investigators said an express derailed onto the opposite track, and a second passenger train crashed into the wreckage roughly a minute later.

Separately at least 75 passengers were burnt to death in a fire aboard the Tezgam express train in October 2019, while a two-train collision at Ghotki killed more than 100 people in 2005, records showed.

And as people plunged into mourning on Sunday, questions were expected to be asked when and if the government will improve Pakistan’s railway system.

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