15 Die, 40 Injure After Train Derails In Pakistan

By Akeem Oduyoye

No fewer than 15 people were killed when a train derailed in southern Pakistan on Sunday, 6 August,2023, local media reports.

“The Hazara Express was travelling from Karachi to Abbottabad, eight coaches have derailed,” a railway official, Mohsin Syal, told HUM News.

At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 injured, Pakistan’s state television channel reported, quoting railway officials.

The derailment happened near Sahara railway station in the city of Nawabshah in the southern Sindh province.

A provincial railway official, Ijaz Shah, told AFP that several passengers were killed and several others injured in the accident, and that a relief train has been dispatched to the site.

Images posted to local media show dozens of people at the site, with some smashing windows to help passengers clamber out of the twisted carriages and at least one coach overturned.

Accidents on Pakistan’s deteriorating rail system are unfortunately frequent, and efforts to secure funds for upgrading the rail network have been ongoing for years, aligning with China’s Belt and Road Initiative for infrastructure projects.

Source: AFP