ISLAMABAD – The death toll from the Ghotki train tragedy rose to 65 on Tuesday after rescuers pulled more bodies from a mangled bogie found crushed underneath an engine a day after the crash, according to Ghotki SSP Umer Tufail.
He said around 10 to 12 of the bodies retrieved on Tuesday were of persons who were travelling with a wedding party.
However, persons in-charge of the Edhi Centre in Sukkur, Mohammad Urs Magsi and Gul Mahar, told Dawn.com that the death toll had risen to 62.
They said over 100 persons injured in the accident were under treatment at different hospitals and many of them were in critical condition, fearing that the death toll may rise.
The accident had taken place between the Raiti and Daharki railway stations where eight carriages of the Millat Express derailed just before the Sir Syed Express rammed into them in the early hours of Monday.
The collision resulted in the suspension of train service, with authorities offering refund for seats booked in advance.
Magsi and Mahar said a free ambulance service had been started on the directives of Edhi Foundation head Faisal Edhi to transport the bodies to the victims’ hometowns and more than 35 bodies had already been sent.
Meanwhile, some bodies had been shifted to a morgue at a hospital in Rahim Yar Khan, they added.
According to them, most of the deceased were residents of Karachi, Lodhran, Rawalpindi and Vehari.
Train service restored
Meanwhile, Sukkur DSP Tariq Latif said the relief operation at the site of the accident was completed on Tuesday after the removal of the wreckage of a train engine and 17 coaches.
He said instructions had been issued for the restoration of train service on the affected tracks after the completion of the relief operation.
According to the DSP, the train service on the track had remained suspended for around 30 hours after the accident. The service was restored on the upcountry track at 10am and on the down track at 12:40pm.
“While the train service has been restored, locomotives are chugging at a slower speed [than the usual] on the affected track,” he said. “Trains are moving at a speed of 10 kilometres per hour on the [upcountry] track.”
Meanwhile, the departure of multiple Lahore-bound and Rawalpindi-bound trains — namely Allama Iqbal Express, Pakistan Express, Jinnah Express, Karakoram Express, Pak Business Express, Millat Express, Karachi Express, Tezgam, Zakariya Express and Sir Syed Express — from Karachi was cancelled.
According to a statement issued by the office of the Pakistan Railways divisional superintendent in Karachi, the departures were cancelled just for Tuesday on “technical” grounds and passengers who had confirmed tickets would be given refunds.
