Pakistani train derails killing one

MULTAN, Pakistan (Reuters) – One woman was killed and at
least 20 people were injured when a passenger train derailed in
central Pakistan on Saturday, the second such incident in less
than a week, a railway official said.

The train was traveling from the southern port city of
Karachi to the eastern city of Lahore when six of its coaches
derailed near the town of Samarsatta in the central province of
Punjab.

“One woman was seriously injured and later died in the
hospital while 20 or 21 passengers have been injured,” said
Ishaq Khakwani, junior minister for railways.

He said it was too early to say what caused the accident,
but the government had ordered an inquiry.

At least two people were killed and more than 70 injured
when a packed express train derailed in Punjab on Sunday.

Government officials said sabotage seemed the most likely
cause of that derailment.

Last July, at least 133 people died in a three-train
pile-up in the southern province of Sindh.

In Pakistan’s worst train crash, 307 people were killed in
1990 when a packed passenger train smashed into a freight
train, also in Sindh province. A train crash in Punjab province
killed 136 people in 1997.