KASUR City News

Five factory workers killed, over 20

injured as freight train crashes into bus

Railways minister suspends gateman, in-charge; announces

compensation for the deceased and injured

From Our Correspondent

KASUR: Five factory workers were killed and more than 20 others injured in a collision between a freight train and a factory bus at Landa Phattak, some kilometers from the Pattoki Railway Station on Friday.

A factory bus carrying workers was crossing Landa Phatak when a goods train collided with it. As a result, Yousaf, Bilal and Maqbool were killed on the spot while more than 20 others were injured. The injured factory workers were shifted to different hospitals where two of them also died.

According to the people, the accident occurred because Landa Phatak was open. They claimed that there was no signal arrangements at the level crossing and the gateman had to depend only on light/whistle of the train engine. It is learnt the goods train was unscheduled, therefore, the gateman did not close the gates.

Following the accident, the people staged a demonstration and blocked the railway track. They also burnt tyres to register their protest. The Pakistan Railways authorities have formed a committee to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq said that gateman Mubashir and the in-charge had been suspended for negligence. He said that a case had been got registered against the gateman and the in-charge.

The minister further said that financial compensation of Rs 1 million would be given to the deceased and Rs 300,000 to the injured persons.