Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where successive governments have paid little attention to improving the poorly maintained signal system and ageing tracks.

Two express trains collided near Daharki, a city located in the Ghotki district of upper Sindh early on Monday, killing at least 31 passengers and injuring over a 100, authorities said, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull injured people and more bodies from the wreckage.

The following is a timeline of major train accidents in the country in the past two decades:

March 16, 2002: Seven people were killed and nearly 15 others were injured when a train from Lahore to Faisalabad derailed near Sheikhupura.

Sept 26, 2002: Seven people died and 57 were injured as a train derailed near Sibi — eight bogies of the Quetta Express derailed as a railway bridge on the Sibi-Jacobabad section collapsed.

Sept 20, 2003: Twenty eight people were killed and 10 others were injured when a train collided with a bus near Malikwal, Mandi Bahauddin district.

July 13, 2005: At least 130 people died and about 170 were injured when three passenger trains collided at the Sarhad Railway Station, about 49km from Sukkur.

Jan 30, 2006: Four people lost their lives and 40 were injured when a train heading from Rawalpindi to Lahore derailed and six of its coaches fell into a deep ravine at Domaili near Jhelum.

Dec 19, 2007: Fifty people died and more than 200 were injured when 16 cars of the Karachi Express came off the tracks near Mehrabpur, Naushahro Feroze.

Nov 3, 2009: At least 18 people were killed and 45 others were injured when the Allama Iqbal Express collided head-on with a goods train in Karachi.

Aug 30, 2011: Three people, including the assistant driver of the train, died while 19 others were injured when the Karachi-bound Khyber Mail ran into a stationary passenger train nearly two kilometres from the Badami Bagh Railway Station in Lahore.

July 25, 2013: A train going to Rawalpindi from Lahore derailed near Gujranwala leaving two people dead and several others injured.

May 7, 2014: Two people were killed, 15 others injured as the Karakoram Express derailed near the Bandhi railway station, some 55km from Nawabshah.

Nov 11, 2014: Fifty-eight people died following a collision between a passenger coach and truck near the Theri Bypass in Khairpur.

July 2, 2015: Nineteen people were killed when three bogies of a special train carrying army officials fell into a canal and another one derailed as a railway bridge collapsed near Gujranwala.

July 19, 2015: Six members of a family were killed in a collision between their car and a Karachi-bound train at an unnamed railway crossing at the Pale Jani railway station yard in Matiari.

Nov 17, 2015: Nineteen passengers were killed when the Jaffar Express derailed on its way from Quetta to Rawlpindi.

Sept 15, 2016: The Karachi-bound Awam Express Train collided with a freight train near Multan resulting in the death of six passengers and injuring more than 150 others.

Oct 8, 2016: Four people were killed, 10 others were injured when a freight train collided with a bus carrying workers of a factory at Landa level-crossing near Gujjar Chowk.

Nov 3, 2016: At least 22 people were killed and more than 40 injured when Zakaria Express from Multan rammed into Fareed Express from Lahore near Karachi's Landi Railway Station.

Jan 6, 2017: A train crushed two motorised rickshaws on an ungated crossing, killing seven schoolchildren in Punjab's Lodhran district. Five children, aged between five to eight years, and a rickshaw driver were critically injured.

March 28, 2017: At least two people died, including the train driver, when the Karachi-bound Shalimar Express collided with an oil tanker in Punjab's Sheikhupura district while five people were also injured in the accident.

Dec 24, 2018: One passenger died and six others sustained injuries when the last three coaches of Shalimar Express derailed and hit Millat Express stationed at an adjacent track at the Resalewala train crossing in Faisalabad.

June 20, 2019: Three people were killed and several others injured when a passenger train, the Jinnah Express, hit a freight car near Hyderabad.

July 11, 2019: The Quetta-bound Akbar Express crashed into the back of a goods train at Walhar railway station’s loop line, near Sadiqabad, leaving 21 passengers dead and 85 injured.

Oct 31, 2019: Seventy-four passengers were killed, with 90 per cent of them burnt alive, and over 40 injured, when three coaches of the Rawalpindi-bound Tezgam Express caught fire near Rahim Yar Khan.

Feb 28, 2020: At least 19 people were killed and more than 30 others seriously injured after a bus crossing an unmanned railway crossing was crushed by the Lahore-bound Pakistan Express train coming from Karachi.

July 3, 2020: At least 20 people were killed when the Shah Hussain Express train rammed into a coaster near Sheikhupura in Punjab. Around 30 people were travelling on the coaster from Nankana Sahib to Peshawar, out of whom 13 males and seven females died in the accident. The deceased included 19 Sikh pilgrims and the driver of the vehicle.

March 7, 2021: At least one person was killed and 30 others were injured when several coaches of the Lahore-bound Karachi Express derailed between Mando Dero and Sanghi railway stations near Rohri.

June 7, 2021: At least 31 people were killed while more than 100 were injured on Monday after two passenger trains collided near Daharki, a city located in the Ghotki district of upper Sindh.

Header image: Paramilitary soldiers and rescue workers gather at the site following a collision between two trains in Ghotki, June 7, 2021. — Reuters