KARACHI/THATTA: A man was killed, a few others were injured and eight bogies were derailed when a fast-moving passenger train collided with a freight train near the Ran Pathani railway station, some 70 kilometres from Karachi, on Tuesday.

The accident, which occurred on the main line, caused suspension of rail traffic between Karachi and the rest of the country, and it was not restored till late at night.

A senior railway official told reporters belonging to Jungshahi that three bogies of the passenger train, Business Express, and five bogies of the freight train were derailed in the accident.

As most passenger trains leave the city for upcountry in the evening, their departure was suspended or delayed after the accident. These trains can leave the city only after the main line is cleared. Only one train — the Karakorum Express — had left the cantonment railway station, but it was stopped.

The cantonment station in the metropolis became overcrowded after several trains were delayed. Besides, a large number of relatives of the passengers on board the Business Express flocked to the station and were doing their best to get any information regarding the well-being of their loved ones.

Pakistan Railway’s divisional superintendent Nisar Memon told Dawn that initial findings suggested that the driver of the Business Express could not see the red light at the station and hit the freight train, which was also on the same track.

He said that the fireman of the passenger train was killed and the driver of the passenger train and a guard of the goods train were injured.

He said that a rescue train had been dispatched to the accident site. He hoped that the track would be cleared and rail traffic would resume by midnight.

Mr Memon said that an inquiry was ordered into the accident to fix responsibility.

Railways Workers Union chief Manzoor Razi identified the dead man as Zakir Hussain, a fireman who worked for the PR.

He said that the Business Express, being pulled by engine No 6410 and operated by driver Mohammad Rafiq, left the cantonment railway station for Lahore at 3.30pm.

Mr Razi said that the goods train had left the city earlier and after reaching at Ran Pathani it was probably asked to stop there to give way to the Business Express. But before it could move away from the track, the fast-approaching Business Express hit the goods train from behind, he added.

He demanded a thorough probe to fix responsibility of the accident.

He also demanded that Rs1 million compensation be paid to the heirs of the victim fireman and at least one person from his family be appointed in the PR.

The Ran Pathani station was in the news as a few years back when a railway bridge over a rain-fed storm drain collapsed and affected the train traffic between the city and the rest of the country.

The country suffered a major train accident in July 2005 when three trains ploughed into one another in Sindh that left over 150 people dead and hundreds injured.

Over 350 people died in another train accident in January 1990.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2014