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PAKISTAN-ACCIDENT-RAILWAY
Pakistan train collision kills nine, injures 66
ISLAMABAD, July 11, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least nine people were killed and
more than 60 injured when two trains collided in central Pakistan early
Thursday, officials said.
The incident took place in Rahim yar Khan district in Punjab province when
a passenger train coming from the eastern city of Lahore rammed into a goods
train that had stopped at a crossing, a senior government official said.
“At least nine dead bodies have been retrieved,” local police officer Omar
Salamat told TV channel Geo News.
Salamat said 66 passengers were injured in the accident and had been taken
to nearby hospitals.
“The condition of three to four passengers is critical,” he said.
Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where the railways have seen
decades of decline due to corruption, mismanagement and lack of investment.
TV footage from the site showed the heavily damaged train engine and
carriages, as emergency workers and local people used metal-cutting tools and
heavy cranes.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, the country’s minister for railways told TV channel
Aaj that an investigation had been launched to determine the causes of the
incident.
In June, three people were killed when two trains collided in southern
Sindh province.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1114 hrs