Mass transport: Over 100 injured as train derails near Rajanpur

‘Peshawar-bound Khushhal Khan Khattak Express was speeding when it derailed’.

DERA GHAZI KHAN/ MULTAN:

Police said on Tuesday that over 100 people had been injured when a Peshawar-bound train derailed near Rajanpur’s Umerkot area.

SP Muhammad Fazlur Rehman said Khushhal Khan Khattak Express appeared to have derailed as it was speeding and the railway track was feeble. Ruling out rumours that a remote-controlled bomb had been planted at the railway track, Rehman said there was no sign of an explosion or hole on the railway track and its vicinity. He said all bogeys of the train had derailed in the incident.  Rehman said bogey eight of the train had overturned. He said police had reached the spot five minutes after the accident. Rehman said police and locals had taken the injured to a hospital in Rojhan sub-district.

DPO Zahid Mehmood has been supervising rescue efforts. Out of the 100 injured in the accident, 10 were reported to be critical. District authorities have declared an emergency across hospitals in Rajanpur in the wake of the accident.

Pakistan Railways Multan DS Shahrukh Khan told The Express Tribune that an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the cause of the accident. He said he was travelling to Rajanpur to take stock of the situation. Khan said it was premature to attribute a cause to the accident. The train service has been attacked seven times by terrorists in Rajanpur over the past five years.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2015.