Lahore, March 25 At least 25 people were injured when seven coaches of a train derailed in the Punjab province of Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday.
The incident, which occurred in Lodhran, about 400 km from Lahore, late Tuesday night, prompted railway officials to suspend traffic on the affected track.
Federal Minister for Railways Hanif Abbasi said that human error and some mechanical issues are most likely the reasons behind the derailment of the Tezgam Express in Lodhran.
According to Lodhran Deputy Commissioner Abdul Hafiz, the Karachi-bound Tezgam Express left from Lahore Railway Station on Tuesday evening. "The train derailed when it reached near Adam Wahan Railway Station on the Bahawalpur-Lodhran section at 9:30 pm," he said.
As many as seven carriages derailed, with some passengers trapped inside. "Around 25 passengers have been injured, one of them seriously. However, no fatalities have been reported," the deputy commissioner said.
The Punjab Emergency Department's Rescue 1122 rescued the trapped passengers and transported them to a nearby hospital, he said.
A railway official said the derailment occurred when the couplers between the carriages broke, splitting the train into two parts. With the train divided into two parts, the seven carriages attached to the engine derailed, he added.
Traffic on the affected track has been suspended, the official added.