At least 30 people were killed while 80 others were injured after an express train derailed in Pakistan's Nawabshah on Sunday. The incident took place after as many as 10 bogies of Havelian-bound Hazara Express derailed near Sahara railway station in Sindh's Nawabshah district, 275 kilometres from Karachi, as per a Geo News report. At least 25 died in the accident while passengers are still stranded in a coach, Commissioner Benazirabad division Abbas Baloch said in a statement earlier, as per the report.
Nine out of the ten wrecked coaches have been cleared and the injured and deceased have been pulled out, said Benazirabad Deputy Inspector General of Police Younis Chandio, adding that the remaining bogie requires heavy machinery to be picked up.
The reason behind the accident is still not known.
The wounded passengers have been shifted to the People's Medical Hospital in Nawabshah with the help of locals and authorities, the report stated.
Following the train crash, rail operations to and from he interior districts of Sindh were suspended and the railway autorities have said that it may take upto 18 hours to resume operations.
Authorities fear heavy material and life losses as the ill-fated train is said to be carrying a large number of people, even more than its capacity, the report stated.
The train, comprising 17 bogies with a capacity of 950 passengers in its economy class and 72 in its air-conditioned standard coach, went off track on its way to Havelian from Karachi in district Sanghar, the senior superintendent of police said.
Pakistan's railways and aviation minister Khawaja Saad Rafique addressed a press conference and said the accident could have been "deliberately" caused or it could be a mechanical fault also.
"First, we will provide relief and then investigate. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah is reaching the site. Emergency has been imposed in hospitals in Sukkur," the federal minister said