Faulty tracks: Train derails in Benazirabad; 3 dead
20 people were hurt when three wagons of Karakoram Express slipped off tracks.
A file photo of a different train. PHOTO: MOHAMMAD AZEEM/EXPRESS
HYDERABAD:
Three people were killed and around 20 wounded when three wagons and locomotive of a passenger train derailed in Benazirabad district on Wednesday. Railway traffic between Sindh and the rest of the country was suspended for eight hours when Karakoram Express, which was en route to Karachi from Lahore, derailed near Baandhi railway station.
The divisional engineer of Pakistan Railways, Khalid Khursheed Kanwar, ruled out subversion, saying that the train apparently derailed due to a fault in the tracks. A banned nationalist group often detonates homemade bombs on railway tracks in the province.
The train driver told reporters that he slowed down the train as repair and construction work was under way on the tracks near Baandhi station. “I observed extreme care while driving past – but suddenly the locomotive derailed, pulling along three wagons off the tracks,” he added.
The casualties were driven to the Peoples Medical College Hospital, Benazirabad. “One woman was brought dead while two men succumbed to the injuries at the hospital,” Medical Superintendent Dr Hashim Langha told reporters. The dead were identified as Kaneez Fatima, 70, Muhammad Ali, 40, and Yawar Shah, 30, all residents of Lahore.
The hospital also received nearly 20 passengers with minor to moderate wounds. All but five were released after first aid. Those hospitalised for treatment of serious wounds have been identified as Ahsanullah, Muhammad Manan, Mumtaz, Farooq Ahmed and Khalid.
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique ordered an inquiry into the incident and announced a monetary compensation of Rs500,000 for each of the deceased and Rs100,000 each for the injured.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2014.
Three people were killed and around 20 wounded when three wagons and locomotive of a passenger train derailed in Benazirabad district on Wednesday. Railway traffic between Sindh and the rest of the country was suspended for eight hours when Karakoram Express, which was en route to Karachi from Lahore, derailed near Baandhi railway station.
The divisional engineer of Pakistan Railways, Khalid Khursheed Kanwar, ruled out subversion, saying that the train apparently derailed due to a fault in the tracks. A banned nationalist group often detonates homemade bombs on railway tracks in the province.
The train driver told reporters that he slowed down the train as repair and construction work was under way on the tracks near Baandhi station. “I observed extreme care while driving past – but suddenly the locomotive derailed, pulling along three wagons off the tracks,” he added.
The casualties were driven to the Peoples Medical College Hospital, Benazirabad. “One woman was brought dead while two men succumbed to the injuries at the hospital,” Medical Superintendent Dr Hashim Langha told reporters. The dead were identified as Kaneez Fatima, 70, Muhammad Ali, 40, and Yawar Shah, 30, all residents of Lahore.
The hospital also received nearly 20 passengers with minor to moderate wounds. All but five were released after first aid. Those hospitalised for treatment of serious wounds have been identified as Ahsanullah, Muhammad Manan, Mumtaz, Farooq Ahmed and Khalid.
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique ordered an inquiry into the incident and announced a monetary compensation of Rs500,000 for each of the deceased and Rs100,000 each for the injured.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 8th, 2014.