Foreign
THE death toll from a train collision in southern Pakistan rose to 62 on Tuesday after some of the casualties died of injuries sustained in the crash, local officials said.
A train derailed in the town of Ghotki before dawn on Monday and another one coming from the opposite direction rammed into it, the reason for the initial derailment is not yet clear.
“We fear more people may die. Some of the injured people are in a critical condition,’’ said Usman Abdullah, local administration chief in Ghotki.
The operation to find survivors and bodies in the wreckage had been completed and the track would be reopened today, said Syed Ijazul Hassan, a spokesperson for the state-owned railway operator.
The two trains were carrying more than 1,000 passengers.
Deadly train accidents are common in Pakistan, where the tracks laid by former colonial power Britain around a century ago have hardly been upgraded.
Bombings by Islamist militants and separatists targeting the lines, and weak safety and security systems also contribute to the high number of deaths on the trains every year.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday ordered investigations into the railway’s safety fault lines.(dpa/NAN)
– June 08, 2021 @ 09:24 GMT
Tags: Death toll from Pakistan train collision rises to 62
