BAHAWALPUR: At least 17 passengers of two trains -- Musa Pak and Awami Express – were injured on Friday, 14 of them seriously, when the leaning iron ladder of a railway signal hit their arms and elbows at Mohsinwal railway station near Khanewal on the main Lahore-Karachi railway line.

Following the incident occurring on the Khanewal-Sahiwal section, the Mohsinwal railway station was closed.

As per railway sources, some unidentified thieves attempted to steal the iron ladder attached to a signal. However, as they failed to detach the iron frame from the signal, the ladder leaned towards the track.

Strangely, none of the railway officials noticed the leaning iron frame that could cause an accident and no measure to fix it was taken.

14 of them hospitalised with serious injuries

As a result, the passengers who were travelling with their arms and elbows partially out of the train windows, were hit by the leaning iron ladder.

As per sources, 17 passengers of the Musa Park and Awami Express trains were injured in the incident. Of them, two identified as Usman (41), Ramzan (62) and as many unidentified were provided first aid by Rescue 1122 teams arriving at the scene, while 14 including Ali Murtaza (42), Salman (28), Ghulam Zamin (45), Mubashir (32), Mahmood (36), Asif (22), Afzal (32), Salim (30), Owais (25), Wazir (50), Iqbal (50), Asghar (50) and Halima (15), were admitted to Civil Hospital, Khanewal, where they were stated to be stable.

Published in Dawn, June 21th, 2025