Two policemen were martyred and three others severely injured when a train collided with their police vehicle in Sargodha on Monday, a railways official said.

Pakistan Railways Rawalpindi Divisional Superintendent Noorduddin Dawar confirmed to Dawn that the Millat Express struck a police vehicle belonging to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) that suddenly tried to cross the track at an unmanned crossing, leaving two constables dead and one injured. He added that two other constables were “safe”.

“SHO (Station House Officer) RPS (railway police station) Sargodha and SHO Cantt Sargodha Punjab Police are present at the site,” he said in a message to Dawn. “This falls under the jurisdiction of Sargodha Cantt District Police. The train has moved after a brief stop.”

Muhammad Sawar Khan, an area officer for Pakistan Railways, confirmed to Dawn that the train — which left Sargodha and headed towards Charnali railway station —was running through the unmanned crossing when a police van belonging to the SIU attempted to cross.

“The driver of the police van tried to cross the unmanned crossing without looking and was hit by the train. Two police constables died in the collision and three were injured, one of whom is in critical condition,” Khan elaborated.

The two deceased cops were identified as Constables Sibtain and Amanullah, while the other three were identified as Head Constable Muhammad Owais, Constable Abrar and Driver Constable Ziafat, according to Rescue 1122 Sargodha.

Visuals of the vehicle showed that the front end of the vehicle had been completely mangled in the collision.

According to the police, the five personnel were performing a routine patrol of the area when they attempted to cross the railway track.

Punjab Inspector General of Police (IG) Dr Usman Anwar took immediate notice of the incident and demanded a report from the deputy inspector general of the SIU.

Meanwhile, a Punjab Police spokesperson said that the incident was being investigated and legal action would be taken.

Pakistan Railways has some 4,072 level crossings – 1,341 manned and 2,731 unmanned – on its 8,000 kilometres or so long operational track. At least Rs4 million are required to convert an unmanned level crossing into manned one.