QUETTA, Dec 31: A Sibi-bound goods train coming from Karachi derailed in Pirak area on Sunday, suspending rail traffic for several hours between Quetta and the rest of the country.

The derailment took place some 25 kilometres off the Sibi Railway Station, Pakistan Railways officials told Dawn by telephone from the area.

“It was not a subversion act and five bogies of goods train derailed due to some technical reason,” the authorities said, while confirming the incident.

They said that five bogies of the Sibi-bound goods train coming from Karachi derailed in Pirak area between Sibi and Dera Murad Jamali around 11 am.

However, no casualty was reported in the incident, they said.

After the derailment, the train traffic got suspended for several hours as trains coming to and from Quetta remained stuck up at the Sibi Railway Station.

Soon after the derailment, Pakistan Railways’ officials rushed to the site along with a relief train. The engineers and other staff of the PR cleared the main track in five hours, and the traffic was restored around 4pm.

Schedules of Lahore- and Peshawar-bound Chiltan and Quetta trains were affected by the incident, and they left for their destinations after the track was cleared.