22 killed as trains collide in Karachi

Three coaches of Fareed Express completely destroyed when Zakaria Express rammed into it

KARACHI: At least 22 people have been killed and 65 others injured when a long-distance train collided into stationary coaches in Karachi Thursday morning, in the country’s second major rail collision in less than two months.

Rail traffic between Karachi and the rest of the country was suspended after Zakaria Express rammed into the last three bogies of Fareed Express at the Landhi Station’s signal at around 7:35am.

Fareed Express was coming to Karachi from Lahore, while Zakaria Express had set off from Multan.

In September, six persons were killed and over 150 others injured when a Karachi-bound passenger train rammed into a stationary freight train near Multan in a pre-dawn accident.

According to Habib, the driver of Fareed Express, the train was halted at the signal for five minutes because Sukkur Express was stationed at the Landhi station.

“Just as the train started to move, I heard a big bang after which there was smoke and dust everywhere followed by screams of people.”

Three carriages of Fareed Express – 52893, 12024, 11415 – were completely destroyed in the collision.

According to the Divisional Communications Officer of the Pakistan Railways Nasir Nazir, each carriage could carry at least 88 passengers and there were not less than 50 passengers in each of the three destroyed carriages.

According to Pakistan Railway’s divisional superintendent Nisar Memon, apparently the driver, who was supposed to stop Zakaria Express at the Juma Goth’s signal some four kilometres from the Landhi Station’s signal – had overshot.

“The driver and the assistant driver are with the railway authorities,” said Memon and added after their interrogation and conducting an investigation they would come up with facts that led to the accident.

An official of the Pakistan Railways’ workers union told The Express Tribune that trains enter Karachi back-to-back with a gap of 10 minutes in the morning.

“When one train leaves the station, then the other train enters,” he said, adding, “the signal does not turn green for other trains until a train leaves the station.”

“This has to be investigated if in Thursday’s incident the driver had missed the red signal or the signals were out of order.”

Doomsday

The incident occurred in the thickly-populated Gaddafi Town in Landhi area which, according to railway officials, is an encroachment.

“It was a doomsday scenario when the two trains collided,” said Saeed Rehman, who lives adjacent to the point where the incident occurred.

Zakaria Express, according to him, was moving fast when it collided with Fareed Express.

“As soon as dust and smog settled down,” he said, “they saw three mangled and overturned coaches of Fareed Express. People trapped inside those carriages were shouting for help,” he said and added no government machinery reached the spot until one-and-half-hour of the incident.

People from neighbourhoods poured in on their own to help trapped passengers and brought hammers and gas cutters with them.

Azeem, who also lives nearby, said he was hardly a few feet away where the trains collided. “We literally pulled out parts of bodies from inside the mangled carriages,” he said.

The Pakistan Railways rescue team was the last to reach the spot at around 9:45am, he said.

Traffic Jam

On the other hand, Pakistan Railway’s divisional Superintendent Nisar Memon told The Express Tribune that due to severe traffic jam in Malir and at Sharae Faisal, their rescue teams were unable to reach the spot. The Korangi Industrial Area’s route was taken by their rescue teams which, he said, was also clogged with traffic.

Rescue train

The Pakistan Railways, according to one of its officials, has sent two rescue trains to which their cranes are also attached and equipped with all rescue-related equipment.

One of the rescue trains remains standby at the Cantt Station while the other is stationed a Kotri near Hyderabad.

In case of an accident, the official on the condition of anonymity told The Express Tribune rescue trains are moved towards the site of the accident as it could take several hours to reach the site of accidents by road.

However, in Thursday’s incident, the official said the crane of the rescue train, which was supposed to start with steam took around one hour to get functional and then their rescue train was moved towards the incident.

Railways Minister

Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, taking notice of the incident, said an initial report of the accident would be submitted in three days while it takes eight days for a detailed report to be completed.

After talking to the media at JPMC where he went to inquire after the injured, the minister said they have the train driver and the assistant driver with them and whosoever will be responsible for the accident would be punished.

Recruitments in the Pakistan Railways including those of drivers were purely on merit, he said. The Pakistan Railways, according to Rafique, earlier used to generate Rs18 billion revenue and now generates Rs36 billion. The local administration helped them in the rescue work, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2016.