MORE than 40 people died and dozens were injured in a train accident in southern Pakistan on Monday (7).
The accident in the Ghotki district of the southern Sindh province occurred after the coaches of one train, the Millat Express, derailed and fell across the opposite track, where they were hit by another train, the Sir Syed Express, a spokesperson for Pakistan railways said in a statement.
Senior Daharki police officer Umar Tufail said 40 people were killed and dozens injured.
Rescuers were still trying to access a coach where some 25 people were believed to be trapped, Tufail told Geo News.
A railway spokesman said, “An unknown number of people were still trapped in the mangled wreckage of carriages near Daharki in a remote part of Sindh province.”
"The site is far and that's why we are facing some trouble in the rescue work," he said, adding at least six wagons were destroyed in the accident.
Villagers were the first to rush to the site, with rescue workers later trying to cut their way through shredded and protruding metal.
The accident happened on a raised section of track surrounded by lush farmlands.
The Millat Express was heading from Karachi to Sargodha when it derailed before dawn, spilling carriages onto the track carrying the Sir Syed Express from Rawalpindi in the opposite direction.
Prime minister Imran Khan said he was "shocked" by the accident and promised a full inquiry.
"Ordering comprehensive investigation into railway safety fault lines," his official Twitter account said.
Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz Satti, chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, told private TV channel ARY that the Pakistan army and paramilitary rangers had already reached the site from nearby bases to help with the operation.
Bob Blackman MP speaks during the event