An express train crowded with holiday travellers derailed in southern Pakistan early Wednesday, killing at least 50 people and injuring many more, officials said.
The overnight express train was going from Karachi to Lahore when about 12 of its 16 carriages came off the rails near Mehrabpur, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Karachi, the officials said.
Rescue workers recovered 50 bodies from the wreckage and were calling in cutting equipment to gain access to more of the carriages, said Sikander Ali, a senior police officer at the scene.
Azhar Ali Rajpar, a local villager who heard the crash and rushed to the scene, said he had seen dozens of dead bodies and "countless" injured people.
"Almost all of the carriages were destroyed," Rajpar said by telephone. "There is total darkness. It is almost impossible for the rescuers."
The train, which derailed at about 2 am (2100 GMT Tuesday), was loaded with passengers travelling home for the Islamic holiday of Eid ul-Adha. The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Mehrabpur Mayor Farooq Ahmed Leghari said the bodies of nine people who died had reached the city’s hospital along with about 80 others injured in the crash.
Maqsoodun Nabi, a police official in Karachi, said the train was loaded with about 700 passengers, including a large wedding party who had booked a special carriage.
Deadly accidents are a regular occurrence on Pakistan’s colonial-era railway network.
A speeding train struck a crowded bus at a railway crossing near Lahore in October, killing 12 people and injuring about 50 others. About 130 people died in July 2005 when three trains collided in southern Pakistan.
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