Train derailment kills holiday travellers
An express train crowded with holiday travellers derailed in Pakistan early today and many have died, a relief worker said.
The express train was going from Karachi to Lahore when 14 of its 16 carriages came off the rails near Mehrabpur, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Karachi, said Anwar Kazmi, spokesman for the Edhi Foundation, a charity that dispatched ambulances to the scene of the accident.
Mr Kazmi said “many died” in the accident but did not have an immediate figure for the number of dead or injured.
The train was loaded with passengers travelling home for the Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Adha.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear.
Khalid Amin, a senior railway official, said the accident happened at 2.10am Wednesday local time.
Two relief trains were being dispatched to the scene, he said.
