Drivers injured as Shalimar Express rams into goods train at Khanpur

The Lahore-bound Shalimar Express coming from Karachi collided with a freight train near Khanpur on Saturday, resulting in injuries to its driver and assistant driver, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to initial information, the accident was the result of a technical fault with the track switch. Resultantly, train service was suspended on both up and down tracks.

Soon after receiving information, rescue and technical staff reached the site – Jetha Battha Railway Station – for recovery efforts.

It is reported that the Shalimar Express engine and three carriages of the freight train were derailed after the collision.

The latest accident came a day after the deadly crash between a coaster carrying Sikh pilgrims and a train in Sheikhupura which claimed 22 lives.

The ill-fated vehicle was going to Peshawar from Nankana Sahib to Peshawar when it collided with Shah Alam Express on Jaatri Road near Farooqabad.

Soon after the accident, a PML-N lawmaker called for registering a case against Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid as she submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly.

Hina Pervaiz Butt also demanded his immediate resignation, saying the Pakistan Railways officials and Sheikh Rashid were responsible for the tragedy which claimed so many lives.

Butt said the minister had turned Railways into a political stage as she also asked the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the incident.

Meanwhile, Hina wasn’t alone in expressing her anger, as JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said train accidents had become a routine because of the incompetent government and its incompetent ministers.

Similarly, Maulana Asad Mehmood – JUI-F’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly – said someone must remind the PTI government and the ministers that they used to say before the elections that the siting government was responsible for any accident.