Two killed as train runs aground in Gujranwala
At least nine people are still trapped under the train.
A screengrab showing the train that mounted a closed track. SCREENGRAB: EXPRESS
GUJRANWALA:
A train traveling from Lahore to Rawalpindi overshot and ran aground on a closed track in Gujranwala on Thursday evening, killing at least two people including a woman and a child, Express News reported.
Rescue services said that at least nine people are still trapped under the train, Express News Bureau Chief Gujranwala Hafiz Shahid reported.
The wheels of two carriages of the train are buried in the ground, and the floor of the train carriage is level with the ground.
Authorities have also requested for heavy machinery required to pull the train back onto the track at the Gujranwala railway station.
Both drivers of the train have reportedly fled the scene.
Railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has also ordered an inquiry into the incident. He added that he is personally supervising the rescue effort.
The train was traveling from Lahore to Rawalpindi and did not stop at its designated point, and overshot over a closed section of the track until it hit an electric poll.
The track was surrounded by thousands of people from the locality.
This is not the first train accident in July this year. At least 14 people were killed and one person was injured when a rickshaw collided with a train near Sheikhupura on July 6.
The Karakoram Express was on its way from Lahore to Karachi when it met an accident with the rickshaw which was reportedly carrying around 25 people – mainly women and children.
A train traveling from Lahore to Rawalpindi overshot and ran aground on a closed track in Gujranwala on Thursday evening, killing at least two people including a woman and a child, Express News reported.
Rescue services said that at least nine people are still trapped under the train, Express News Bureau Chief Gujranwala Hafiz Shahid reported.
The wheels of two carriages of the train are buried in the ground, and the floor of the train carriage is level with the ground.
Authorities have also requested for heavy machinery required to pull the train back onto the track at the Gujranwala railway station.
Both drivers of the train have reportedly fled the scene.
Railways minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has also ordered an inquiry into the incident. He added that he is personally supervising the rescue effort.
The train was traveling from Lahore to Rawalpindi and did not stop at its designated point, and overshot over a closed section of the track until it hit an electric poll.
The track was surrounded by thousands of people from the locality.
This is not the first train accident in July this year. At least 14 people were killed and one person was injured when a rickshaw collided with a train near Sheikhupura on July 6.
The Karakoram Express was on its way from Lahore to Karachi when it met an accident with the rickshaw which was reportedly carrying around 25 people – mainly women and children.