GUJRANWALA, July 25: Three people were crushed to death and several others injured when a Rawalpindi-bound train came off the tracks in a crowded area here on Thursday.

The dead and injured were vegetable and fruit vendors and their customers present between the tracks and the G.T. Road at the time of the derailment. The train passengers remained safe in the accident near the Gondalanwala Chowk.

According to local railway officials and witnesses, the train driver and his assistant, who fled the scene after the crash, did not spot a ‘stop’ sign. The train had to be stopped at the loop line to give way to the Awam Express coming from the opposite direction.

As a result, the ill-fated train ran into a dead-end, jumped off the tracks and crashed into the vendors plying their business on the G.T. Road.

The train crushed to death a vendor, a woman and a child and left several people injured.

The injured and bodies of the deceased were taken to a local hospital.

Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique asked the general manager of the Pakistan Railways to submit a report on the accident within 24 hours.

On his part, the general manager suspended train driver Muhammad Riaz and his assistant Shahid Zaheer.

The railways administration brought heavy cranes from Lalamusa and Lahore to lift the engine and bogies and arranged Iftar for the passengers, who later left for Rawalpindi.

The minister announced that heirs of each of the deceased would be paid Rs500,000 and the injured Rs100,000 as compensation.

According to a handout, a railcar going to Rawalpindi from Lahore met with an accident in Gujranwala, leaving two people dead and four injured.

Gujranwala DCO Tariq Javed Malik supervised the rescue operation, the handout added.