Train crash in Karachi leaves 18 dead

Eighteen people, including women and children, died on Tuesday after a passenger train collided head on with a goods train in the suburbs of the city.

The accident took place just a few minutes past 10am near Juma Goth railway junction, a couple of kilometres from Bhains Colony along the National Highway, when the driver of Allama Iqbal Express ignored a signal and rammed into another train coming from Karachi on the same track.

About 45 people were injured and at least two coaches of the passenger train were destroyed, officials and witnesses said.

“The cargo train was dead slow and Allama Iqbal Express had also slowed down maybe after its driver saw the other train coming on the same track,” said Haider Bukhsh, a primary schoolteacher who was among the first people to reach the scene.

“The number of casualties is much lower than feared because both trains were moving slowly. Otherwise a head-on collision could have caused disaster,” he said.

An official of the Pakistan Railways said the goods train was asked to move and change track from a loop line and at the same time Allama Iqbal Express was signalled to stop but its driver kept moving and collided with the goods train.

He said the delinquent driver managed to escape, but an inquiry had been ordered to fix responsibility.

People living in the vicinity tried to rescue the injured, but failed because they didn’t have the required equipment. They said rescue teams of the city government, Railways and other agencies reached the place after more than an hour.

It took over six hours to retrieve bodies because the city government’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, Pakistan Railways and charity organisations lacked resources, expertise and coordination.

“We first approached the nearby police station and then sent some bikers to the highway to seek help,” said Nadir Khan, a resident of Juma Goth.

The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre received 18 bodies and 45 injured. “Most of the dead received head injuries,” a JPMC spokesperson said.

Some of the dead were identified as Shayan (8), Manisha Ishaq (3), Roshan Jehan (50), Farzana Noor (30), Naureen (28), Ayaz Leghari, Tahir Aslam (40), Nasir (29), Lalazar (20), Fazal Elahi (20), Ismail Mahmood (21), Ismail Leghari (20), Narsingh Lakhpeer (20), Abdul Rasheed (45), Fazal Abbas (40), and Abdul Hafeez (45). KARACHI, Nov 3: “He was in my arms, sleeping soundly, when the accident shook us all. The only thing I remember now is that I lost consciousness and a grip on Abdur Rehman when something fell on me. He was barely three months’ old. I am shattered,” said Kausar Ramzan, sobbing.

She is among the three parents who got injured and lost their minor children in the train crash that occurred near the Juma Goth railway station, Landhi Town, on Tuesday.

The accident occurred when a Karachi-bound Allama Iqbal Express coming from Lahore collided with a goods train.

Kausar, with a fractured leg, was admitted to the emergency section of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) along with 45 others. The tragedy, which seems to be the result of negligence, claimed the lives of many people.

Iqbal, Kausar’s husband, was waiting for his wife’s arrival at the Landhi junction and rushed to the scene as soon he got the news of the accident.

“I talked to her around 10 to 15 minutes before the accident and told her to keep all the baggage at one place and be ready to get off at the Landhi junction. Later someone told me that the train had had an accident,” grieving Iqbal, a restaurant worker and resident of Korangi, told Dawn.

Both husband and wife had shifted to Karachi a decade ago. Kesar, their adopted daughter, and Nasir, Kausar’s brother, also received injuries in the accident. The couple had a child after 10 years of marriage.

“I had taken my son for the first time to my mother’s place in Lahore.

Some people at the hospital told me that he was alive when he was taken out of the train and died at the hospital. His body hasn’t been handed over to us yet,” added Kausar.

Mohammad Arshad, another injured at the JPMC emergency section, was coming to Karachi after attending a wedding in Lahore. He lost his eight-month-old son, Mohammad Shayan, in the tragedy.

“The berths fell and we got stuck. I kept shouting for twoand-a-half hours before I got help. I lost my son, my brother has fractured both his legs.

We are still in a state of shock,” says Arshad as he wiped off his tears.

Arshad, a rickshaw driver in Lyari Town, had also received minor injuries along with his wife and another son.

Six-year-old Manisha and her uncle, who were coming to Karachi with the entire family from Kamoki, Punjab, to attend a wedding in Korangi, were also among the victims. Sitting outside the JPMC emergency section all their relatives were in great shock.

“We had been preparing for the wedding ceremony for so long. But our happiness has turned into grief. We could never have imagined this. I had made so many suits for the little Manisha. Her uncle who died in the accident had got married just two months ago,” mourned Sakina, one of the relatives.

Looting spree Shock and pain hit 50-yearold Mohammad Aslam, too. Six hours after the accident, his relatives had no clue to the whereabouts of Aslam’s son, 15-year-old Tariq. Lying on the hospital bed with fractured legs, he was crying for the safety of his son.

“Please pray for my son’s life. All my belongings have been taken away following the crash.” Aslam’s house is mortgaged and he has been asked to vacate it once he returns to Lahore.

“Please mention my condition (in your report), so that I am given some time to recover, physically and financially, and not forced to vacate my house,” he requested.

The injured not only complained about the delay in the rescue operation, but also said that the “looting that followed the accident was highly distressing”.

“We want our belongings back. I had a suitcase which contained books, clothes and also my cellular phone,” said Waris Ali, a college student who had boarded the train at Khairpur and suffered minor injuries in the accident.

At the hospital, Waris was by himself. He was being administered a drip and was told that he could go home now. But none of his family members were informed about the misfortune that befell him on his way back to Karachi.

“My mother is a heart patient. I don’t want the news to reach home. I will manage on my own as soon as I gather some strength. I wish someone returns my luggage,” he said.

Giving details about the injured, Dr Seemin Jamali, head of the JPMC emergency section, said that most of them got fractures and had been shifted to different departments.

“Most of them are now in a stable condition and 15 people have already been discharged. All bodies have been identified.” Referring to the problems that the hospital staff had faced in the morning due to an unruly mob, Dr Jamali said: “Too many bystanders were a major obstacle to delivering quick emergency aid today. We desperately need security and there needs to be an awareness programme to educate people on how to behave in emergencies.”