At least 34 people have been killed, with others badly hurt and trapped in wreckage, after a Pakistani express train ploughed into derailed carriages in the south of the country.
Rescue workers were on Monday using heavy lifting machinery to reach those still left injured inside the badly mangled carriages, but the death toll was expected to mount during the day.
The collision around 4am on Monday in Ghotki district was the latest deadly train incident to strike the rundown rail network in the nation of more than 220 million people.
Imran Khan, the Prime Minister, ordered an immediate investigation, while his political opponents were quick to attack his failure to improve safety on the network.
Railway officials said carriages from the Millat Express had become derailed near Daharki and spilled onto neighbouring track as the service made its way north from the port city of Karachi. The oncoming Sir Syed Express from Rawalpindi to Karachi then ploughed into the rolling stock. Four railway employees were reported to be among the dead.
A local official said 13 to 14 carriages had derailed and six were “completely destroyed” in the smash. Local news footage showed them rolled over and badly damaged.
Usman Abdullah, Ghotki's deputy commissioner, told Geo News: “This is a challenging task. It will take time to use heavy machinery to free citizens [still trapped]." he said.
Pakistan's trains have suffered from decades of underinvestment under successive governments and the smash was at least the fifth deadly rail accident since Mr Khan took office three years ago.
The former cricketer said he was “shocked by the horrific train accident at Ghotki early this morning” and was ordering a “comprehensive investigation into railway safety fault-lines”.
Senator Sherry Rehman, an opposition leader with the Pakistan Peoples Party, called for the resignation of the railways minister.
She said: “My heart goes out to the families of the deceased and grievously hurt. In other countries the minister would resign, especially after so many train wrecks in the last three years.”
Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the opposition in the national assembly, said the railways were “in an utter shambles today in terms of safety and finances”.
Train accidents are common in Pakistan, where underinvestment has left the network with poorly maintained track, signals and trains.
In February 2020, at least 19 people were killed when a train collided with a passenger bus near Sindh’s Rohri. Only three months before that, more than 70 had died in an inferno on a moving train when carriages caught fire near Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab.
Troops joined the rescue efforts on Monday morning, according to a statement from the military's information wing. Military doctors, as well as paramedics and engineers were at the site, and a specialist search team was being flown by helicopter from Rawalpindi.
Chinese investment granted as part of Beijing's Belt and Road initiative to build a modern day Silk Road had been due to upgrade Pakistan's trains, but plans have been delayed in a disagreement over financing.
THREE
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
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MATCH INFO
RB Leipzig 2 (Klostermann 24', Schick 68')
Hertha Berlin 2 (Grujic 9', Piatek 82' pen)
Man of the match Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlin
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.