Death toll of Pakistan's train-bus collision rises to 30: Official

Islamabad: Death toll of the collision between a train and a passenger bus in Sukkur district of Pakistan's southern Sindh province has risen to 30 late Friday night, an official said.

Commissioner of Sukkur district Shafiq Ahmed Mahesar told media that the death toll rose after 15 of the injured succumbed to their injuries during treatment at two different hospitals. Several children and women were among the deceased and the injured, the official added.

According to the commissioner, a passenger train named Pakistan Express, heading towards the eastern city of Rawalpindi from the southern port city of Karachi, hit the bus at a railway crossing in Kandhra town near Rohri area of the district.

The commissioner said that the accident happened after the bus driver changed the main route and tried to cross the railway line through an unauthorized point to avoid the traffic jam at the main highway. However, the bus got trapped at the railway track and could not avoid the briskly approaching train.

The train pushed the bus several hundred meters on the track after hitting it, an official from the railway department told Xinhua, adding that the powerful and speedy thrust of the train broke the bus into dozens of pieces that spread along the railway track.

Local people, police and rescue teams rushed to the site, lifted the bodies and the injured lying alongside the railway track. Police and rescue teams are reportedly searching for other injured person in the area.

According to local media reports, the passenger bus was going to the eastern Sargodha district from Karachi when it faced the accident while crossing the unguarded railway crossing.

All of the passengers in the train remained were safe, but the assistant train driver got some injuries after he bumped into the cabin wall.