SUKKUR: Nine members of a family were killed when a passenger train hit a Qingqi rickshaw that came on the tracks in Kandhkot on Tuesday.

The incident took place at 1.30pm when the driver of the rickshaw carrying 15 people tried to cross the tracks in the locality of Ogahi Laro within the remit of the B-Section police station.

Witnesses said the railway crossing did not have any gate or barrier. The rickshaw stopped on the tracks because of overloading and in the meantime the Khushhal Khan Khattak Express, going to Peshawar from Karachi, emerged and slammed into the vehicle.

As a result, nine occupants of the rickshaw, including children, were killed on the spot. They were identified as Zarina, Sohni, Ajeeban, Zahida, Kareeman, Farzana, Mithal, Ahad and Sewni.

Four other persons suffered serious injuries. They were first shifted to the Civil Hospital Jacobabad from where they were taken to Rahim Yar Khan Hospital, where their condition is said to be critical.

Reports said members of a family were returning to their village in the Qingqi rickshaw after meeting their relatives in Murad Lashari of Kandhkot district.

A spokesman for the Pakistan Railways said six women were among the dead, according to APP.

He said the people had been advised again and again to cross the unmanned level crossing carefully as it was without any gate to prevent such accidents.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2018