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Islamabad, March 7 (IANS) A woman was killed and over 25 others were injured when nine out of 18 compartments of a passenger train derailed in Pakistan's Sindh province on Sunday, a top official confirmed.
In a statement, Inspector General of Pakistan Railways Police Arif Nawaz said the train was on its way to Lahore from Karachi and the derailment took place in Sukkur district, Xinhua news agency reported.
The derailed compartments fell into a ditch due to over-speeding, according to the initial investigation, Commissioner of Sukkur Shafiq Mahesar told media.
However, Divisional Transportation Officer of Sukkur Railways Shahbaz Babar, who is also heading the rescue operation, told Xinhua that the cause of the accident will be determined after the investigation.
Babar added that two critically injured people have been shifted to the hospital while the remaining wounded people were given first-aid treatment at the station and were sent to Lahore with other passengers.
"Sukkur is the junction point between Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab provinces and receives a heavy flow of traffic during the peak hours. Thousands of passengers suffered delay due to the accident, and we have no choice but to move trains one-after-another," Babar said.
He said the traffic was flowing on a single line, and about 10 to 15 trains have been delayed due to the accident.
Meanwhile, three out of nine derailed compartments have been removed from the ditch, he added.
Federal Minister for Railways Muhammad Azam Khan Swati told the media that he has formed a two-member team to determine the cause of the accident and strict action will be taken against the train driver if found guilty of negligence.
--IANS
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