Hyderabad (Pakistan): At least 58 people were killed and scores more injured when a Pakistani express train packed with holiday travellers derailed on Wednesday, an ambulance service official said.
The Karachi Express train was on its way from the southern city to Lahore when most of its carriages came off the rails near the town of Mehrabpur, officials said.
"We're using cutting equipment and so far we've taken out 32 bodies," said Mohammad Bashir Tariq, an official with the Edhi ambulance service at the scene.
About 100 people were hurt, railway and ambulance officials said. Rescuers still had to search three or four wrecked carriages so the number of casualties may rise, Tariq said.
A railway official said 12 of the train's 16 carriages had come off the rails but district police chief Abdul Hadi Bullo, who was at the scene, said he could see 14 off the track - some in a field beside the track. However, it is reported that many are still trapped as about 15 carriages derailed.
The cause of the crash, about 400 km north of the city of Karachi, was not known, railway officials said.
A man on the train, reached by mobile telephone, said earlier he could hear people crying out for help.
"I can see several carriages are quite a way from the track and I can hear screaming," said the traveller, Mohammad Salim.
The train crashed at about 2.30 am. Many of those on board were believed to be heading home for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha on Friday.
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