Pakistan Train Accident Kills at Least 12
GUJRANWALA , Pakistan, July 2 (UPI) — At least 12 people were killed Thursday as four cars of a passenger train left a bridge and fell into a Gujranwala Province, Pakistan, canal.
A section of the bridge, built prior to Pakistan’s 1948 independence, collapsed as the train passed over it, initial reports said. Pakistani soldiers, on their way from Pannu Aqil in southern Singh Province to a military station in Punjab, were aboard.
“According to initial investigation, the bridge collapsed,” a military official concurred.
Pakistani Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique noted the bridge was most recently inspected earlier this year, and denied suggestions it had deteriorated. He added a report on the incident was in preparation, and although terrorism was an unlikely cause, the possibility of sabotage is under consideration.
Government officials said 80 passengers aboard the train were rescued and hospitalized. A train carrying relief equipment and supplies was sent to the site of the incident, as were two helicopters and local relief teams.
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