Daily Times

At least three people lost their lives on Thursday when a passenger train collided with a freight train at Makli Shah near Hyderabad.

Station Superintendent Muhammad Rizwan said the Jinnah Express passenger train going from Karachi to Lahore collided with the stationary freight train near Latifabad area of Hyderabad. He said the Jinnah Express crashed into the freight train possibly because the train driver wasn’t able to get the signal.

“Driver, an assistant driver and a guard lost their lives in the incident outside Hyderabad at a signal crossing,” said Federal Railways Minister Shiekh Rashid Ahmed, adding that all passengers remained safe in the accident. He said the matter is being investigated and a brief report on the matter will be released soon.

Visuals from the scene showed the passenger train’s engine and at least one bogey severely damaged from the accident. A team of Sindh Rangers immediately reached the site of the incident to assist the rescue operations. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Earlier, Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Mubeen said two bodies were brought to the hospital. One of the deceased, identified as Aslam Chandio and who breathed his last in the intensive care unit (ICU), was the driver of the ill-fated Jinnah express. The other two were identified as Syed Noman Ali and Yasir Bashir. Three bogies of the goods train capsized as a result of the collision. No bogies of the Jinnah Express were derailed, but the train’s engine did come off the tracks. Furthermore, the section of the tracks which it was left standing on suffered considerable damage.

The goods train was detached from the affected bogies and taken to the railway station. Meanwhile, labourers started working on the track to separate damaged parts of the Jinnah Express engine and goods train.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed sorrow over the train accident, a statement by his spokesperson said. He directed the Hyderabad commissioner to provide the injured with all possible assistance and instructed the hospital to make the necessary arrangements in this regard.