Four injured as Bolan Mail collides with goods train in Balochistan

Injured are said to be in stable condition after medical treatment at a local hospital in Kacchi district

QUETTA:

At least four passengers were injured when Bolan Mail collided with a goods train in Balochistan's Kachhi district on Monday.

Levies sources said that Bolan Mail, which was on its way from Karachi to Quetta, collided with a goods train in Peeru Kunri Post area of Kachhi.

According to them, three boogies of the train derailed from the track. The injured passengers were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

Read more: 150 killed in railway accidents in past five years

All four injured are in stable condition, a doctor in Sibi hospital said, adding that first aid has been provided to the injured.

The collision caused the suspension of train service between Balochistan and other parts of the country. A technical team of the Pakistan Railways reached the spot and removed both trains from the track. Train service was later restored.

Passengers suffered difficulties because of scorching heat as a result of the collision. They waited for hours for the restoration of the train service. Bolan Mail was jam-packed with passengers coming from Karachi to Quetta.

Also read: Ghotki train tragedy toll climbs to 65

Accidents on the decaying rail system of Pakistan are fairly common.

In June last year, 65 people were killed and over 100 injured when a Karachi-bound train ploughed into the derailed bogies of a Sargodha-bound express near the border between Sindh and Punjab provinces.

The Millat Express was heading from Karachi to Sargodha when it derailed, spilling carriages onto the track carrying Sir Syed Express from Rawalpindi in the opposite direction.

The double accident happened near Daharki in Sindh’s remote Ghotki district at around 3.30 am when most of the 1,200 passengers aboard the two trains were dozing.

In 2005, in the same district, about 130 people were killed when a crowded passenger train rammed into another at a station and a third train struck the wreckage.

Successive governments have for years been trying to secure funds to upgrade the system, including a planned new rail track called ML-1 as part of China's Belt and Road Initiative of energy and infrastructure projects.