By Staff Reporter
MULTAN: At least four people have been killed and more than 30 injured after a Karachi-to-Peshawar express train derailed near Multan in Punjab province on Tuesday, according to local reports and rescue officials.
All 15 coaches of the Rehman Baba Express left the track, and several overturned near Sher Shah Bridge at about 5.15 am. The derailment happened near Sher Shah Railway Station.
The death toll rose through the day. Railways minister Hanif Abbasi confirmed four deaths, citing the railway’s divisional superintendent in Multan. A Pakistan Railways spokesperson, Babar Ali, had earlier told local media that five passengers had died. Local outlets later reported that rescue workers had recovered a sixth body from a coach.
“We have appointed the FGIR to probe the incident,” Abbasi said, referring to the federal government inspector of railways, who will lead the inquiry. He said he could not confirm the higher toll.
The cause has not been established. The driver, Rizwan Abbas, said the train was travelling at 100km/h when he felt a sudden push as he passed through the Sher Shah station area. “The signal was clear.”
He said he applied the brakes and stopped the train. “When I got out of the locomotive and looked back, I saw that the passenger coaches had derailed and were lying off the tracks,” he said. “It was horrible.” He maintained that the train was in working order.
The train’s guard in charge gave a similar account of a sudden jolt, followed seconds later by several coaches coming off the rails. Officials say it is too early to say whether a track fault caused the crash or whether part of a coach fell onto the line.
Some passengers have made a different allegation. They told reporters the driver was running at excessive speed. They said they had asked him to slow down near Bahawalpur because passengers in the fourth and fifth coaches were being thrown about by severe jolts, and claimed the speed was not reduced. Abbas has not responded to those claims, which officials have not verified.
Local media reported that passengers said one coach had received temporary repairs at Rohri hours before departure. They also reported that the locomotive’s black box had been seized and the driver’s statement recorded. Pakistan Railways has not publicly commented on the repair claim.
Rescue 1122, the emergency service, said it had evacuated 53 passengers from the train. Most of those on board were from Karachi.
Nishtar Hospital in Multan declared an emergency. A hospital spokesperson said 25 injured people had initially been brought in, three of them dead on arrival. Local media later reported that 34 injured people and six bodies had been taken there, with four patients in intensive care. The hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Abdul Qadir Khan, and its vice chancellor, Dr Mehnaz Khakwani, visited the emergency ward. Extra staff were called in.
Search teams were still looking for an 18-month-old girl reported missing after the crash. Local media identified her as the daughter of an injured passenger.
Abbasi travelled to the site to review the rescue work. He said compensation would be paid to the families of the dead and to the injured under the Pakistan Railways insurance policy. Local media put the sums at Rs1.5m for each death and Rs500,000 for each injured passenger. He ordered the best possible medical care for the injured.
Multan commissioner Amir Karim Khan met affected passengers and their families and ordered temporary accommodation, transport and breakfast for those stranded. Pakistan Railways set up round-the-clock help desks at major stations, and commercial officers were told to arrange alternative travel and refunds. A replacement train carrying more than 500 passengers left Sher Shah station, and buses were arranged with the district administration for those who wished to continue by road.
Train services through Multan were suspended while cranes cleared the wreckage, with trains diverted via Lodhran and Khanewal. The down track was reopened after about five hours, and the up track was expected to be cleared by evening.
The accident is the latest in a long run of rail incidents in Pakistan, where the safety and maintenance of ageing infrastructure have drawn repeated criticism.
On 1 October, the Shalimar Express and Pakistan Express narrowly avoided major accidents after derailing, and a third minor accident occurred on the Jaffar Express near Gujar Khan. Pakistan Railways chief executive Hafeezullah attributed those incidents to a lack of maintenance over the past five years, while saying a series of maintenance measures had been undertaken.
Further derailments were reported in July and August, including that of the Hazara Express near Karachi Cantt station on 22 July, and of the Rawal Express in Jhelum district in August.
In April, it was reported that more than 20 railway accidents had occurred since the start of 2026. Pakistan Railways said it recorded 95 accidents between 1 January and 20 December 2025, including 46 passenger-train derailments and 43 freight-train derailments. Its report cited limited modernisation of tracks, signalling and safety systems.
Official figures tabled in the National Assembly, as reported by local media, show 386 derailments over five years to August 2026. Defective track was blamed in 141 cases, human failure in 109 and rolling stock failure in 65. A May 2025 report found that more than 6,500km of track had exceeded its natural lifespan
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