No less than 65 passengers have been killed and more than three dozen wounded after a train exploded in south-eastern Pakistan on Thursday.
Officials said the explosion is one of the deadliest rail accidents in the country.
The train which was on its Karachi to Lahore caught fire when a fuel cylinder used by passengers to cook breakfast exploded
Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed said an inquiry has been launched to understand out how the banned fuel was brought on the train.
At least three carriages caught fire as a result of the explosion and people started jumping off from the moving train, the minister added.
Local rescue official Baqir Hussain confirmed the numbers and feared the death toll might go up as more bodies were being retrieved after the fire was put out.
Also Read: I’m ready to face trial in Nigeria – Kanu
More than 200 passengers were on board the burnt carriages, Railways official Junaid Aslam said.
“Only few might have survived,” Hussain said.
Most victims were members of an Islamic preaching group who were travelling to participate in a religious congregation near the city of Lahore.
Most bodies were charred beyond recognition and DNA testing would be conducted to identify the victims, Hussain said.
The burnt carriages were being searched for more bodies now the fire was extinguished, local police chief Ameer Taimur Khan said.
Television footage showed huge flames coming out of burning carriages and a thick black smoke spreading in the air.
Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where many tracks laid by the British rulers during colonial times before 1947 have not been upgraded since.
Besides outdated tracks, bombings by Islamist militants and separatists and a weak safety and security systems are the other causes of hundreds of death in train accidents every year.
One Response