MULTAN, Sept 15 (APP): Federal Government Inspector of
Railways Mian Arshad reached Multan for investigation into
an accident involving two trains that left four persons dead
and another 31 injured on Thursday.
Three passengers of 14 Down Awam Express died and 31 others were injured after it collided with a stationary goods train near Buch Railway Station early Thursday morning at around 3:45am.
The goods train had stopped there as an unidentified man had been crushed under its wheels.
Karachi bound Awam Express hit the goods train from the rear.
Four coaches of the passenger train were derailed. Rescuers, police, railways police rushed to the spot after receiving information about the accident.
Three of the four killed in the accident were identified as Nasir (23), son of Allah Daad of Rahimyar Khan, Sardar (40), son of Ilyas of Rahimyar Khan and Gul Hassan (55) of Ghotki. Their bodies were handed over to the heirs, Railways Multan officials said.
Rescuers said they had provided first aid to over 60 passengers and many others were shifted to Nishtar Hospital where 31 passengers were under treatment, eight of them in critical condition.
Meanwhile, the Inspector Railways visited the accident scene along with his team on Thursday as part of the investigation.
Rescue 1122 sources said that eight persons stated to be in critical condition at Nishtar Hospital Multan were indentified as Abdullah, son of Taj of Mirpur Mathelo, Karim Bakhsh of Mirpur Khas, Shahid, son of Haji Sahib Dad of Sadiqabad, Ishaq, son of Ghulam Rasool of Samasatta, Ali Bakhsh, son of Karim Bakhsh of Mirpur Khas, Naseer, son of Bashir of Lahore, Uzair, son of Shoukat of Lahore and Asghar
Ali, son of Haji Muhammad.
Naseer Ahmad with severe burns on his body and Asghar Ali
suffering from serious head injuries, were undergoing treatment at Intensive Care Unit of Nishtar Hospital, Director Emergency and Intensice Care Unit staff told APP.
The other injured passengers under treatment at
Nishtar Hospital include: Manzoor Ahmad, son of Yasin, Ahmad s/o Abdul Ghaffar, Sajjad Ali s/o Shabbir Hussain, Mumtaz Ali s/o Rahab Ali, Javaid s/o Ali Teena, Zafar s/o Gul Muhammad, Muhammad Sharif s/o Ibrahim, Shahbaz s/o Rasheed Ahmad, Danish s/o Muhammad Ijaz, Yousuf s/o Abdul Aziz, Rizwan s/o Muhammad Ishtiaq, Ali Sher s/o Inayat Ali, Falak Sher s/o Inayat Ali, Ismael s/o Usman, Nabeel s/o Badar uz Zaman, Farrukh s/o Ghulam
Muhammad, Imran s/o Sardar Khan, Zarmina, wife of Asmat Khan,Bashiran wife of Bashir, Nasim wife of Dildar Shakeel, Zain s/o Jamil, Usman s/o Sardar and Mansoor s/o Haji Muhammad.
Divisional Commercial Officer Railways Multan Tahir Marwat
told APP that a counter was being set up outside the local
railway station for providing information to the relatives of
the injured passengers. He said that railways would continue to extend support to the injured till they are fully recovered and discharged from the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Awam Express was again sent to its destination after six to seven more coaches were attached to it, Railways Multan spokesman Rao Tasleem said.
Earlier, passengers of the train were given breakfast by the railways at the railway station before their departure to Karachi.
Around 250 rescuers and 25 ambulances from Rescue 1122
Multan, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh and Lodhran participated in
the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, heavy machinery was being used to clear the track and trains from Karachi were being diverted to Khanewal junction bypassing Multan. To cater to the needs of passengers of Multan, a shuttle train was being run from Multan to Khanewal.
Railways officials said that track would be cleared soon.
