DAHARKI : The death toll of Ghotki train accident has mounted to 62 as Pakistani engineers today combed the mangled wreckage of two trains that collided in a remote farming region which highlighted huge safety problems on the nation’s dilapidated rail network.
Army and civil engineers have cleared much of the wreckage of carriages crushed like tin cans in the collision, and welders were finalizing repairs to the damaged rails.
The Millat Express was heading from Karachi to Sargodha when it derailed, its carriages strewn over the tracks as the Sir Syed Express from Rawalpindi arrived minutes later in the opposite direction, smashing into it.
The accident has reignited debate about the parlous state of Pakistan’s public transport system — particularly a rail network that has seen little investment in decades.
Pakistan Railways said Tuesday that 62 people had died in the accident. Usman Abdullah, the deputy provincial commissioner, confirmed the toll. They ranged from a months-old infant to a woman who was 81.
Initial Investigation report of the the Daharki train collision finds that the accident occurred after a track’s welding joint broke which caused bogies of Millat Express train to derail.
The report, as per sources, stated that the data obtained from the black boxes will be included in the investigation report of the Federal Inspectors of Railways.
Six coaches and the engine of Millat Express did not derail, said the report.
