Passenger trains collide in Pakistan killing 36

(FASTNEWS | COLOMBO) – Two passenger trains have collided in southern Pakistan, killing at least 36 people and injuring dozens more.

Officials said that one train travelling in Sindh province had derailed and landed on another track. A second train packed with passengers then collided with it and overturned.

Rescue teams took the injured to nearby hospitals and it is thought that several are in a critical condition.

Pakistan has seen a string of deadly train accidents over the past years.

Between 2013 and 2019, 150 people died in such incidents, according to local media reports.

A senior official in the Ghokti district, Usman Abdullah, told Reuters news agency it was hard to know how many people were still trapped in the train.

“There are about six to eight bogies [carriages] that are totally smashed… there is a sleeper train, AC [air conditioned] class, as well as economy class, in which there were between 47 to 50 people on this side and around 50 to 60 people on the other train,” he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan said he was “shocked” by the accident and promised a full inquiry.