The Mehrabpur derailment was a fatal railway accident that occurred shortly after 02:00 local time on 19 December 2007 near the town of

Mehrabpur Mehrabpur (), ( Sindhi:محرابپور), is a city in the Naushahro Feroze District in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The city is administratively subdivided into 8 Union Councils. It has a busy railway station on the main railway line between Ka ...

in the

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Incident

The train, "Karachi Express", was an express service from

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, and was packed with passengers returning home for the

Eid ul-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam alongside Eid al-Fitr. It falls on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijja, the twelfth and final month of the Islamic calendar. Celebrations and observances are generally carri ...

Islamic holiday. At around 2:25 a.m. local time, fourteen of the train's sixteen carriages left the tracks, some being mangled by the crash, others simply sliding down an embankment into the water. Sabotage and terrorism were ruled out as the reason for the crash, with officials believing a faulty track was the cause of the derailment.Aziz, Abdul
Sabotage unlikely in train crash
''

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

'', 20 December 2007. The death toll was initially estimated as at least 56 people, but Junaid Qureshi, director of operations for the state-run

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways is the state-owned railway operator in Pakistan. Founded in 1861 as the North Western State Railway and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of operational track across Pakistan, stretching from Peshawar to Karachi, offering bot ...

, later lowered the official estimate to 40 deaths and 269 injuries. Among local people and those who were traveling through accident area, opinions about the number of deceased is much higher, estimated between 400 and 800 dead (with an average of around 500) and over a thousand injured. This is based upon the fact that 14

bogie A bogie ( ) (or truck in North American English) comprises two or more Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets (two Railroad wheel, wheels on an axle), in a frame, attached under a vehicle by a pivot. Bogies take various forms in various modes ...

s were almost completely wrecked, and only two of the carriages were left more or less intact, with others being severely damaged. Given that the accident took place in the holiday period, practically all the seats and sleepers were occupied, bringing the number of people in one carriage close to 80, therefore justifying higher estimation.Pakistan lowers train death toll
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', 20 December 2007.

References

Derailments in Pakistan Railway accidents in 2007 2007 in Pakistan Naushahro Feroze District History of Sindh (1947–present) December 2007 in Pakistan Accidents and incidents involving Pakistan Railways {{Rail-accident-stub

Incident

See also

References