Preliminary report blames Awam Express driver for Multan train accident
At least six people were killed and more than 100 injured in the accident.
MULTAN (Dunya News / AFP) – According to preliminary investigation report, Awam Express collided with freight train in Multan due to driver’s negligence.
At least six people were killed and more than 100 injured when the Karachi-bound Awam Express passenger train rammed into a goods train near Shershah Juntion in Multan early Thursday.
The ill-fated passenger train was en route to the country’s southern port city of Karachi from northwest Peshawar city.
Deputy Commissioner of Multan Nadir Chattha said that the freight train was forced to stop on the track after it overran a man who committed suicide when the passenger train, coming from the same direction, collided with it.
Rescue workers used metal-cutting equipment to try to reach injured passengers still trapped in the mangled wreckage. Cranes and ambulances filled the area as troops also raced to the scene to help.
Railway official Saima Bashir blamed the accident on the passenger train driver, saying he failed to heed a red signal that went up after the goods train had stopped.
As a result of the collision, four bogies of Awam Express overturned while the engine and the power van were also left completely wrecked.
The injured are being shifted to various hospitals of the city by rescue teams. Meanwhile, local railway authorities arranged another train to take the survived passengers to their destination in Karachi.
Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique ordered the concerned authorities to submit a report regarding the incident within 72 hours.
Chief Minister of Punjab Province Shahbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the accident and directed hospital authorities to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured people.
The Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif has also directed the concerned authorities to provide best medical treatment to the injured of the train accident near Multan.
In his message, he sympathised and expressed condolence with the bereaved families and prayed for early recovery of the injured.
Train accidents are common in the country, which inherited thousands of miles (kilometres) of track and trains from former colonial power, Britain.
The railways have seen decades of decline due to corruption, mismanagement and lack of investment.
Last November, 19 people were killed in southwestern Baluchistan province after a train’s brakes failed and it sped down the side of a mountain.
In July 2015, at least 17 people were killed when a military train fell into a canal after a bridge partially collapsed.
