ISLAMABAD: At least 26 passengers were injured, one of them critically, when several coaches of a Karachi-bound train derailed in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, officials said Wednesday.
The derailment happened late Tuesday when the Tezgam passenger train, travelling from Lahore to Karachi, derailed near Adam Wahan Railway Station on the Bahawalpur-Lodhran section, with multiple coaches overturning in the accident.
Rescue officials said 26 passengers were injured, with 17 treated at the scene and nine, including a woman, shifted to District Headquarters Hospital in Lodhran. One of the injured was reported to be in critical condition.
Local administration and emergency teams, including Rescue 1122, responded to the incident, with efforts underway to pull passengers from overturned coaches.
Pakistan Railways spokesperson Kaleem Ahmed said the injured were receiving medical care.
Railway officials said the cause of the derailment had not yet been determined, with an inquiry ordered into the incident.
Some eyewitnesses suggested the accident may have been caused by a failure in the couplers between coaches, which split the train into two sections.
Railway traffic on the affected track was suspended, while a relief train was dispatched from a nearby junction.
