Six people killed in Pakistan train crash

Suspected negligence on the part of a train engineer may have caused an accident in which six people died and more than 100 were injured in Pakistan.

Pakistan train crash

Rescue workers and civilians help a man get out of the wreck of a passenger train near Buch station in Multan, Pakistan. Source: EPA

At least six passengers have been killed and more than 100 people hurt in train accident near the Pakistan city of Multan.

Rescue official Kalim Ullah says more than 100 passengers were injured in the pre-dawn crash on Thursday when a Karachi-bound train collided with a freight train at Sher Shah, a town near Multan.

She said the freight train had stopped so the driver could remove the body of a man who had been crushed to death while crossing the railway track.

She said the passenger train hit the freight train from behind. The injured passengers have been taken to local hospitals.

Railway official Saima Bashir blamed the accident on the passenger train driver, saying he failed to heed a red signal that went up after the goods train had stopped.

TV footage showed rescue officials working around crumpled and overturned bogies in the darkness. Several trapped passengers had to be extracted from their carriages.
Pakistan train crash
Rescue workers and people gather at the scene of a train accident near Buch station, close to Multan, Pakistan. Source: EPA
A three-day public holiday for the festival of Eid ul-Adha ended on Wednesday, with many returning from their family homes to the cities where they work.

Train accidents are common in Pakistan, which inherited thousands of miles (kilometres) of track and trains from former colonial power, Britain.

The railways have seen decades of decline due to corruption, mismanagement and lack of investment.

Last November, 19 people were killed in Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan province after a train's brakes failed and it sped down the side of a mountain.

In July 2015, at least 17 people were killed when a special military train fell into a canal after a bridge partially collapsed.


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2 min read

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Source: AAP, AFP



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