RAHIM YAR KHAN: Railway traffic remained suspended on both railway tracks after more than eight bogies of a freight train derailed near Chak 75/P, about 12km from here, on Monday.

According to Rahim Yar Khan Station Master Maqbool Ahmed, the goods train, loaded with containers, was going to Karachi from Lahore.

Eyewitnesses said when the train reached between Dari Azeem Khan and Taranda Sawaye Khan railway stations at 3:30pm, 13 bogies suddenly derailed with a heavy sound.

They told the rescue personnel that they had complained many times to the railway authorities about the theft of nuts and bolts of fish plates of the tracks in this area but to no avail. They alleged that some members of the railway staff of the nearby level crossings were addicts and they didn’t care about the maintenance of the track.

General Manager Public Relations at Railways Headquarters Quratulain told Dawn that some trains had to stop at different stations due to the accident and the rail traffic would be restored within an hour. She said the request for track maintenance had already been sent to the Sukkur divisional superintendent.

The track maintenance was in progress on two sections and on a bridge, she added. Denying the reports of theft of nuts and bolts of the track, Ms Quratulain said not a single such incident had occurred since the divisional superintendent Sukkur took charge of his seat one and half months back. She denied the allegations that any railways employee was involved in illegal activities.

According to PR sources, up destination trains, including Hazara Express and Awam Express were halted at Rahim Yar Khan railway station and down Khyber Mail, Bahauddin Zakariya and Allama Iqbal Express stopped at Khanpur, Liaqatpur and Dera Nawab Sahib railway stations, respectively.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2019