NAWABSHAH (Today News) – According to witnesses and police, at least 30 people were murdered and 70 others were injured when 11 bogies of the Hazara Express derailed near Sarhari Railway Station, located between Shahzadpur and Nawabshah, on Sunday.
According Pakistan Dunya News, the train was traveling from Karachi to Rawalpindi when at least 11 of its bogies derailed.
The passenger train had a large number of passengers on board. Rescue efforts were undertaken by locals and passengers, who began removing stranded passengers from the rubble of derailed bogies.
In surrounding hospitals, an emergency has been declared, and a rescue effort is also underway. The injured have been sent to People’s Medical Hospital Nawabshah.
The reason of the derailment remains unknown as officials arrive on the site to investigate. Train operations on the up track have been halted following the incident.
Sukkur Mahmoodur Rahman, Divisional Superintendent of Railways, acknowledged that ten bogies had gone off track in the train disaster. More information is being gathered, he noted.
He stated that a train had been deployed from Kotri to help.
On the orders of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, Pakistan Army forces also assisted with relief efforts at the accident scene.
Additional soldiers and army aviation helicopters were also dispatched from Hyderabad and Sakrand.
The carriages of Hazara Express derailed in Nawabshah: Pakistan Army and Rangers started immediate relief activities at the accident site
The Army Chief has issued special instructions to Pakistan Army and Rangers for relief activities. Rescue teams of Pakistan Army and Rangers… pic.twitter.com/1edxuMQ2Do
— PTV News (@PTVNewsOfficial) August 6, 2023
Railways and Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique stated that he was apprised of the event and is collecting basic facts about it.
During a news conference, he stated that the disaster may have been caused “deliberately” by someone or by a technical failure.
Rafique stated that the first priority is to give relief to the victims, followed by an investigation into the occurrence. He stated that the train was traveling at a normal pace of 45 kilometers per hour, and that officials had arrived on the site and that an emergency had been declared at hospitals in Sukkur and Nawabshah.
Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah expressed his condolences for the loss of life in the event and asked the Nawabshah deputy commissioner to offer emergency medical attention to the injured.