Pakistani train derails, one woman killed
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-04 14:46

One woman was killed and at least 20 people were injured when a passenger train derailed in central Pakistan on Saturday, the second such incident in less than a week, a railway official said.

The train was travelling from the southern port city of Karachi to the eastern city of Lahore when six of its coaches derailed near the town of Samarsatta in the central province of Punjab.

"One woman was seriously injured and later died in the hospital while 20 or 21 passengers have been injured," said Ishaq Khakwani, junior minister for railways.

He said it was too early to say what caused the accident, but the government had ordered an inquiry.

At least two people were killed and more than 70 injured when a packed express train derailed in Punjab on Sunday.

Government officials said sabotage seemed the most likely cause of that derailment.

Last July, at least 133 people died in a three-train pile-up in the southern province of Sindh.

In Pakistan's worst train crash, 307 people were killed in 1990 when a packed passenger train smashed into a freight train, also in Sindh province. A train crash in Punjab province killed 136 people in 1997.