Two trains collided at 3.30 am yesterday near Daharki. It is the fourth collision to occur in the Ghotki district in the past year
Sindh (AsiaNews) - Yesterday morning two trains collided, causing the death of 51 people and the injury of a hundred. It happened near Daharki, in Sindh province, in the south of the country.
The collision took place at 3.30 in the morning, when the Millat Express, which departed from Karachi, derailed before its arrival in Sargodha. The Sir Syed Express, arriving in the opposite direction from Rawalpindi, collided with the train that had gone off the tracks.
A Pakistan Railways spokesman explained that six Millat Express carriages derailed and five overturned, while two Sir Syed Express carriages derailed and three others overturned.
According to the spokesman's statement, a rescue train was dispatched from Rohri; the local administration and the police immediately engaged in the rescue efforts. Passenger assistance centers were set up in Karachi, Sukkur, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi and some passengers from the Sir Syed Express were taken to the Sadiqabad railway station.
In their official statement, the Pakistan Railways Directorate said, “Pakistan Army troops, police, the district administration and rescue workers took part in the rescue operation, and the process of shifting the injured and the deceased to hospitals has been completed.”
In a tweet, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, said he was "shocked by the horrible train accident", and asked the Minister of Railways to reach the site to provide medical assistance to the injured and support for the families of the victims.
Yesterday is the fourth collision that has occurred in the Ghotki district (Sindh) in the last year, Kashif Anthony, an activist from Karachi, told AsiaNews.
On 7 March 2021, one person was killed and 30 others were injured when several carriages of the Karachi Express bound for Lahore derailed between Mando Dero and Sanghi stations, near Rohri.
According to Anthony, Pakistani authorities did not make the necessary improvements to the signal system and track, which has long been in poor repair.