MULTAN, Pakistan—On Sunday, ten carriages of a passenger train derailed in southern Pakistan, killing 30 people and wounding more than 90 others, according to officials.
According to senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho, some of the derailed cars on the Hazara Express train flipped in the incident near the town of Nawabshah. The train was traveling from Karachi to Rawalpindi when ten carriages derailed at the Sarhari railway station.
In the flat, agricultural area, the derailed automobiles spread across or near the rails. Rescue personnel were shown on local television removing women, children, and elderly passengers from damaged and overturned vehicles. Some of the injured were lying on the ground, pleading for aid, while residents distributed water and food.
According to senior police officer Abid Baloch, who was on the scene, the rescue effort was completed by early evening, with dozens of injured people transported to safety and the final flipped car removed.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif prayed for the souls of the deceased and the rapid recovery of the injured during a political rally in Punjab, expressing his anguish over the loss of life.
Rescue teams transferred wounded passengers to the People's Hospital in Nawabshah, according to Lakho, who is in charge of trains in the disaster region.
Ihtesham Ali lost his family members and was looking for them in the chaotic situation. “Seven members of my family and 22 from my neighborhood were missing and so far we found only four of them, rest are still missing.”
Another senior railway officer, Mohsin Sayal, said train traffic was paused on the main line while repair trains were rushed to the location. Sayal stated that alternate transportation and medical services will be made available to train passengers.
All trains in both directions were stopped at nearby stations until the tracks could be cleaned, and all departures were postponed. Passengers at Karachi station complained that the railway management constantly altering departure timings, leaving them hoping.
"Our train was scheduled to depart at 5 p.m.," claimed Owais Iqbal, a Lahore bound passenger at Karachi Railway Station. We've been advised that it will depart at 8 p.m. It might possibly become later. We're just waiting. We are suffering as a result of the inefficient railway system."
Khwaja Saad Rafiq, Minister of Railways, said an inquiry into the reason of the collision was ongoing.
He said that military and paramilitary personnel assisted rescue workers in freeing the imprisoned passengers. The most badly injured passengers were flown on military helicopters to distant hospitals for treatment.
Train accidents are common on Pakistan's poorly maintained railway tracks, where colonial-era communications and signal systems have not been upgraded and safety standards are weak.
