Four people were injured as a locomotive carrying furnace oil rammed into a goods train from behind near the border between Sindh's Thatta and Jamshoro districts, suspending railway traffic from Karachi and Hyderabad for up and down country.
Railways Station House Officer Kotri Asad Unar told DawnNews that four people, including the driver of the train transporting oil, sustained injuries in the collision. However, no deaths have been reported so far.
According to chief controller, Qazi Atique, "Around 22 bogies were damaged or affected, 16 wagons capsized, four were derailed and another four were badly damaged as a result of accident."
Consequently, a large number of train passengers have been left stranded at Karachi and Hyderabad railway stations. Railway authorities anticipate that by 5pm one of the track would be cleared in order to resume train operations.
Passengers affected by the crash have been given full refund of their tickets by railway authorities. Pakistan Railways management has decided to start train operations form Hyderabad, where according to station master, Shamsuddin, first upcountry train namely Pakistan would leave Hyderabad at 3.15pm, followed by Allama Iqbal at 4:30pm, Pak Business at 5:50pm and Karakorum at 6:15pm.
Heavy machinery, including cranes, is being used to clear the wreckage of the wagons; furnace oil also spilled over the tracks after the accident.
The operation is being supervised by deputy superintendent railway Karachi division Nisar Memon.
Memon said rescue work is underway and could take at least 15 hours to be completed.