Rehman Baba Express derails near Multan, killing at least six

At least six passengers were killed and dozens injured early on Tuesday when all 14 coaches of the Peshawar-bound Rehman Baba Express derailed near Sher Shah in Multan district, police and rescue officials said.

The train was travelling from Karachi to Peshawar when the accident happened at around 5:15am near the outer signal of Sher Shah Railway Station, Geo News reported, citing a passenger. Geo put the toll at six dead and 30 injured, while Rescue 1122 official Muhammad Arshad told Dawn that 49 people had been hurt.

Rescue under way

The injured were taken to Nishtar Hospital in Multan. Rescue officials said 13 coaches had been cleared while work was still continuing in one coach, Geo News reported. ARY News said several of the injured were in critical condition, raising fears that the death toll could rise.

The cause of the derailment has not yet been officially established.

“It was horrible”

Train driver Rizwan Abbas told Dawn the train was running at 100 kilometres an hour. “The signal was clear, and as I was passing through the Sher Shah station area, I suddenly felt a push,” he said.

He applied the brakes and managed to stop the train. “When I got out of the locomotive and looked back, I saw that the passenger coaches had derailed and were lying off the tracks. It was horrible,” he said.

A passenger told reporters that workers had repaired the nuts and bolts of coach number nine near Rohri before the accident, Geo News reported.

Government response

• Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took notice of the accident and directed authorities to speed up rescue work and give the injured the best possible medical care without delay
• Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi expressed grief, said he shared the sorrow of the bereaved families and left for the site to review the rescue operation
• Compensation: Abbasi said the families of the dead and the injured would be paid under the Pakistan Railways insurance policy
• Inquiry: the minister directed the inspector of railways to investigate the accident
• Traffic: train operations via Lodhran and Jahanian have been fully restored, an official statement said

A string of derailments

The accident is the latest in a series of derailments over the past year that have raised concerns about the maintenance of trains and tracks, Dawn reported:

• October 1: the Shalimar Express and Pakistan Express derailed but escaped major accidents, and a third minor accident involved the Jaffar Express near Gujar Khan
• August: the Yousafwala coal train derailed near Firoza after hitting the sand hump on a loop line, and the Rawal Express derailed near Kala Gujran in Jhelum on the Main Line-1
• August 4 and 5: the Hazara Express hit a sand hump, and the Bulleh Shah Passenger derailed
• July: the Shalimar Express derailed near Khanewal, the Tezgam derailed between Hyderabad and Kotri, and four coaches of the Hazara Express came off the track near Karachi Cantt station

After the October 1 accidents, Pakistan Railways chief executive Hafeezullah said the derailments were caused by a lack of maintenance over the previous five years, while saying a series of maintenance measures had since been taken.

ARY News also reported that a freight train carrying coal derailed on a loop line near Jungshahi railway station on its way to Hyderabad, damaging hundreds of metres of track. No one was hurt in that incident.

The deadliest recent rail accident was the derailment of the Hazara Express near Nawabshah in August 2023, which killed at least 30 people and injured more than 100.

Why it matters

Millions of Pakistanis depend on trains as the cheapest way to travel long distances. With derailments coming month after month, passengers will want the inquiry to name a cause quickly and the long-promised track upgrade to move faster. Read our reports on the plan to upgrade the ML-1 railway and on the blast on the Jaffar Express track near Nasirabad.

This article draws on reporting by Geo News, Dawn and ARY News.