20 killed, 50 injured as trains collide in Pakistan

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20 killed, 50 injured as trains collide in Pakistan

Islamabad - All train traffic between Karachi and the rest of the country was suspended after the collision.

By Reuters/PTI

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Published: Thu 3 Nov 2016, 7:22 AM

Last updated: Mon 7 Nov 2016, 10:19 AM

At least 20 people were killed and 50 others injured on Thursday after a passenger train crashed into a stationary train in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.
The accident occurred in Gaddafi Town in Landhi area here at 7:18 am when Zakaria Express collided with the stationary Fareed Express at Juma Goth Train station.
Two bogies of Fareed Express and one bogie of Zakaria Express were completely destroyed in the collision.
Television footage showed mangled and overturned carriages, and media reported rescuers were working to free people trapped in the wreckage.
The collision occurred between the moving Zakaria Express and the stationary Fareed Express, the railways ministry said.
Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique pointed at negligence as a possible cause, with a stop signal being ignored. The whereabouts of the driver and assistant driver of the Zakaria Express were unknown, he said.
He ordered an investigation which would be completely within 72 hours.
“Facts will be brought forward, and whoever is responsible will not escape legal action and punishment,” he said.
In September, at least four people were killed and 93 injured when an express train collided with a freight train near the city of Multan in Punjab province.
Pakistan’s colonial-era railway network has fallen into disrepair in recent decades due to chronic under-investment and poor maintenance.
 


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