At least 25 killed, 80 injured after train derails in Pakistan

At least 25 people were killed and another 80 were injured Sunday when a passenger train derailed near the town of Nawabshah in southern Pakistan, officials said.

In a statement, officials in Benazirabad said at least 25 people died from the incident and other passengers were still trapped inside the train, local broadcaster Geo TV reported.

As the Hazara Express train was heading from Karachi to Rawalpindi, 10 train cars derailed near the Sarhari railway station off Nawabshah, senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho said.

Nine out of 10 derailed train cars have been cleared, with rescue crews pulling the injured and deceased from the wreckage, Younis Chandio, the deputy inspector general of police for Benazirabad, reportedly said.

Rescue crews rushed dozens of injured passengers to the nearby Peoples Hospital in Nawabshah, according to Lakho.

Train traffic has been suspended on the main railway line as repair trains were dispatched to the scene, another senior railway officer Mohsin Sayal reportedly said.

It’s unclear how many people in total were aboard the train at the time of the accident, or what caused the derailment.

The disaster came two months after another horrific railroad accident in Pakistan killed at least 40 people and injured another 100 near Daharki, located in a remote part of rural Sindh province.

At least 1,200 passengers were aboard the Millat Express, which was headed from Karachi to Sargodha when it drailed on June 5.

Train crashes are fairly common in Pakistan, where train systems are poorly maintained and equipped with antiquated communications and signal systems.

With Post wires.