MEHRABPUR, Paistan — More than 50 people were killed in a train derailment Wednesday (Dec. 19) in southern Pakistan.
The train was traveling from Karachi to Lahore when it derailed near Mehrabpur. Twelve of the train’s 16 cars derailed.
In addition to the 50 deaths, more than 100 people were injured.
Following the derailment, local villagers headed to the crash scene to help trapped passengers, officials said. After arriving, emergency crews rescued passengers from the mangled rail cars.
Many of the train’s passengers were traveling for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, also known as the festival of sacrifice.
Officials said the wreck was not the result of sabotage, instead saying a broken welded rail joint might be to blame. Extreme cold weather might have played into the rail’s break.
More than 130 people died in a three-train collision in July 2005 in southern Pakistan.
— Railfanning.org News Wire
