Dozens Killed in Passenger Trains Clash in Pakistan

A sudden collision concerning two passenger trains in the region of the south side of Pakistan has occurred, killing around 40 individuals and dozens injured. A train that was traveling in the province of Sindh accidentally got derailed and ended up landing on another adjacent train track. A second train, filled with passengers, then suddenly collided with it and got overturned. Pakistan has observed a series of deadly passenger train clashes over the past several years.

Rescue teams were timely able to take the injured passengers to a nearby medical facility, and it is thought that out of all injured, several passengers are currently in critical medical condition due to extensive injuries caused by the passenger trains clash.

According to the reports by the local media, between the time period of 2013 to 2019, around 150 individuals have reportedly died after being in such accidents, including multiple passenger trains clash.

Passenger train collision

The accidents involving passenger trains clash occurred in the district of Ghotki, on early morning hours on Monday, when the Millat Express, which have departed from the city of Karachi, got accidentally derailed and fell onto another parallel train track. It is yet to be clarified the cause of the derailment. The Sir Syed Express, which was coming arriving from Rawalpindi, collided with it and suddenly overturned, killing and injuring passengers present near the site of the collision.

Soon after the passenger trains clash, special equipment was brought in to help in the rescue process, and multiple passengers got trapped underneath the tangled train wreckage.

According to a senior official present at the site of the accident in the Ghotki district, it is very hard to know the exact number of individuals that are stuck in the wreckage of the train after the clash. He said that around six to eight carriages filled with passengers were totally smashed in together, which includes a sleeper train, air-conditioned class, and an economy class, in which about 47 to 50 individuals were present on this side, and almost the same amount was present on the other train.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, stated that he is extremely shocked by the passenger trains clash and has promised to conduct a full inquiry regarding the cause of this sudden deadly incident.

Fawad Chaudhry, the Pakistani Minister for Information, has said that more than 100 individuals have reportedly been injured due to the passenger trains clash, and it is feared that the death toll caused by accident could rise.

He said that, unfortunately, for the past multiple years, the railway system of the country, along with other departments, has been deprived of the required finances that should have been invested in a long time ago. As a result of this, the deterioration of these concerned departments can easily be observed.

One of the passengers on board one of the involved trains said that he is lucky to have survived this passenger trains clash. He stated that the accident occurred around 3:30 when most of the people were asleep but woke up when they felt sudden jerks. The luggage present in the overhead compartments begun to fall on the floor.

The hospitals located near the site of the accident in the Ghotki district have been, but on emergency, high alert with help with the causalities caused due to the sudden passenger trains clash, and a helpline have been set up to deal with the passengers on board.

Railway accidents in Pakistan

It is very common in Pakistan to have a railway accident, which is generally caused by passenger trains clash or derailment, majorly due to unmanned railway crossings. In Pakistan, one of the essential modes of traveling across the country is the railway, which is especially common in the lower and middle-income groups, as the tracks are spanned across the length and breadth of the country.

Although, the train carriages are usually overcrowded, and most of the trains owned by the department are in very poor conditions, as they are not maintained properly. In the previous year, on July 21, multiple casualties were reported near the city of Sheikhupura, located in the province of Punjab, when a trained which was traveling to Lahore from Karachi accidentally hit a van which was carrying several Sikh pilgrims.

In the month of October in the year 2019, a sudden fire erupted inside one of the carriages, which was caused by a gas cylinder, and ended up killing more than 70 individuals on the train which was traveling to Rawalpindi from Karachi. In July 2019, 20 passengers died in a train collision.

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