Train derails in Pakistan, at least 28 dead

"This is a fairly serious accident... According to information so far, 28 passengers have died and many others have been injured," Pakistan's Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique told reporters on August 6, according to AFP.

Meanwhile, Reuters, citing local news site Geo News, reported that at least 30 people were killed and more than 80 injured in the tragedy.

Scene of the train derailment in Pakistan on August 6th.

Rafique said there were at least 1,000 passengers on the Hazara Express train at the time of the derailment on a section of track where no fault had been reported. "There could be two reasons: firstly, it was a mechanical failure, or it was intentional – possibly sabotage. We will investigate," AFP quoted the official as saying.

The derailment occurred near Sahara Railway Station, outside the city of Nawabshah in Sindh province in southern Pakistan. According to Mohsin Syal, a railway official, eight train carriages derailed. A senior police officer said some passengers were still trapped in one carriage.

Minister Rafique said a state of emergency had been declared at local hospitals where doctors were working to treat the injured.

The Hazara Express is a daily passenger train that departs from the port city of Karachi in southern Pakistan and takes approximately 33 hours to reach Havelian in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, about 1,600 km to the north.

Accidents are a frequent occurrence on Pakistan's aging railway system. Spanning nearly 7,500 kilometers, these tracks carry over 80 million passengers annually.

In June 2021, two trains collided near Daharki in Sindh province, killing at least 65 people and injuring around 150 others. At least 75 passengers died in a fire on the Tezgam express train in October 2019, while a collision between two trains at Ghotki killed more than 100 people in 2005.

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