Pakistan: dozens of dead in train crash

The emergency services and the army at the site of the accident in the district of Ghotki, June 7, 2021. REUTERS - STINGER

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The derailment of a train followed by a collision with another left at least 34 dead, according to a provisional report, Monday, in the south of Pakistan.

Passengers were still trapped under the debris.

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Live footage from cell phones shows a tangle of metal debris and several overturned green Pakistan Railways cars.

The Millat Express arriving from Karachi derailed just before dawn near Daharki, in northern Sindh province, before being struck by another oncoming train from Rawalpindi, a carrier reported. Pakistan Railways told AFP.

Helpers called on the spot were working to free passengers trapped in the wreckage.

Difficult rescue operations

It is not known how many people were on the train.

Daharki police official Umar Tufail reported at least 34 dead and dozens injured.

"

The site (of the accident) is off-center and we have difficulties in organizing rescue

", in particular to bring the appropriate equipment to the site in order to clear at least six cars destroyed in the accident, explained the door. - speech of the railways.

The accident occurred in a remote area of ​​the province on a stretch of railroad crossing rich farmland.

The chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, General Akhtar Nawaz Satti, announced on the private ARY television channel that the army and paramilitary forces had been able to reach the site from nearby bases to help with relief efforts.

Imran Khan orders investigation

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was "

in shock

 " and promised a full investigation.

"

I order a full investigation into the security breaches of the railways,

" his official Twitter account assured Monday.

Railway accidents are common in Pakistan which inherited thousands of kilometers of track and trains from colonial times under the British Empire.

In 1990 in Sindh province, a train collision killed more than 300 people and injured 700 others near the town of Sukkur when a crowded convoy of sixteen wagons crashed into a freight train.

More recently, in October 2019, at least 75 people were killed in a fire on their train going from Karachi to Rawalpindi.

(

with AFP

)

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