20 killed as train rams into bus near Rohri

ROHRI: As many as 20 people may have died and dozens were critically injured following a collision between a passenger train and a bus near Rohri on Friday night. Eighteen others were injured.

Sukkur Commissioner Shafique Ahmed Mahesar said the accident took place at an unsupervised railway crossing. He apprehended that the death toll could rise. The Rawalpindi-bound Pakistan Express train was on its way from Karachi, when it collided with the passenger bus at one of the unmanned railway crossings. The bus was heading to Punjab. The collision was so intense that it left the bus split into three sections, severely injuring and trapping the passengers.

According to sources, such was the impact of the collision that the bus was dragged by the train for some distance along with trapped passengers. Rescue teams arrived at the place to help victims of the accident.

The Sukkur commissioner said the injured were shifted to Taluka Hospital and Civil Hospital, Sukkur. The injured were also shifted to Rohri hospitals.

Sindh Information Minister Nasir Hussain Shah expressed grief at the loss of lives via a tweet. "Deeply saddened to learn the train accident near Sukkur Rohri Railway phatak in which 15 people were killed and several injured."

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed shock and grief over the loss of life due to the train accident. A spokesperson of the PPP chairman said that he had directed the Sindh government to provide the best medical treatment to the injured.

"Train accidents are a question mark over the federal government's performance," Bilawal's spokesperson was quoted as saying. "After how many accidents will Imran Khan, who used to talk about resignations after a single accident, go home."