Pakistan: Seven People Injured After Blast Derails Four Bogies Of Jaffar Express

At least seven people were injured on Tuesday after a blast on a railway track derailed four bogies of the Jaffar Express in Sindh’s Shikarpur district, Dawn reported citing officials.

Speaking to Dawn, Shikarpur’s Deputy Commissioner Shakeel Abro said that a blast had occurred on the train tracks at 8:15 am at a distance of 1km from the Sultan Kot railway station.

He said four of those injured were taken to the Combined Military Hospital while the remaining three have heen admitted to Civil Hospital in Shikarpur.

According to the official, the Jaffar Express train was bound for Quetta via Jacobabad.

Sukkur Divisional Transport Officer (DTO) Mohsin Ali Sial told Dawn that the passengers were being taken to nearby stations so that work could commence on repairing the track.

Shikarpur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shahzeb Chachar said that the remaining bogies had proceeded toward Jacobabad and mentioned that the blast had targeted a single track used by train going to and from Quetta via Jacobabad, Dawn added.

He said that police in Jacobabad and Shikarpur were attempting to trace those responsible for the incident.

Dawn reported that Sindh’s Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had condemned the incident. Citing Radio Pakistan, it mentioned that Shah sought a report of the incident from the Sindh police inspector general. He also directed the Larkana commissioner to provide medical assistance to the injured passengers.

The fresh blast comes weeks after six bogies of the same train was derailed in the Balochistan province in late September this year.

In March this year, the train was hijacked by militants of the Baloch Liberation Army which resulted in the deaths of 21 passengers and four security personnel dead. All 33 terrorists involved in attacking the train were killed by the Pakistani forces, and hundreds of passengers were rescued. (ANI)