19 killed, 50 injured as trains collide in Pakistan

At least 19 people were on Thursday killed and 50 others injured after a passenger train crashed into a stationary train in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.

The accident occurred in Gaddafi Town in Landhi area at 7:18 am when Zakaria Express collided with the stationary Fareed Express at Juma Goth Train station. Two bogies of Fareed Express and one bogie of Zakaria Express were completely destroyed in the collision.

TV footage showed mangled and overturned carriages, and local media reported rescuers were working to free people trapped in the wreckage.

Fareed Express was coming to Karachi from Lahore, while Zakaria Express had set off from Multan.

According to initial investigation, the driver of Zakaria Express ignored the signal, Geo News reported.

At least 19 people were killed in the accident, railway minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said.

As many as 50 injured have been brought to Jinnah Hospital, said Dr Seemi Jamali, Head of Emergency Department at the hospital.

“Many among the injured have head injuries and some are in critical condition,” she added.

The crash resulted in traffic jam, and ambulances carrying the injured got stuck on the roads. All trains from Karachi have been suspended till rescue work is completed.

Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in accident.

Sharif ordered immediate inquiry into the accident and directed authorities to provide medical facilities to the injured.

Rafique announced Rs 1,000,000 as compensation for the dead and Rs 500,000 for the injured.

In September, six persons were killed and over 150 others injured when a Karachi-bound passenger train rammed into a stationary freight train near Multan in Punjab province in a pre-dawn accident. 

Image: Rescue workers use heavy machinery on the car of a train which crashed outside Karachi, Pakistan. Photograph: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters