20 killed as train hits Sikh pilgrims bus in Pakistan

A bus carrying Sikh pilgrims was hit by a train in Sheikhupura district in Pakistan's Punjab. Shah Hussain Express which was en route to Lahore from Karachi hit the mini-bus carrying Sikh pilgrims at an unmanned level crossing at Farooqababd.

Lahore: At least 19 people, mostly Pakistani Sikhs, were killed when a mini-bus collided with a train in Pakistan's Punjab province on Friday.

Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) spokesperson Amir Hashmi said that at least 29 people, most of them Pakistani Sikhs, were killed in the collision.

Shah Hussain Express which was en route to Lahore from Karachi hit the mini-bus carrying Sikh pilgrims at an unmanned level crossing at Farooqababd, some 60 km from Lahore, at 1.30 pm, officials said.

"The coaster was carrying mostly Sikh pilgrims to Gurdwara Sacha Sauda in Farooqabad. They had come to Nankana Sahib from Peshawar. After staying in Nanakana Sahib, they were leaving for Peshawar. The ETPB security had escorted them till the limits of Nankana Sahib," Hashmi said.

The rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the injured to the district headquarters hospital, a statement by the railway ministry said.

The railways said a divisional engineer has been suspended from service and an inquiry has been launched.

Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid has ordered authorities to take immediate action against those responsible for the accident.

Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed grief over the accident and directed authorities to provide the best medical aid to the injured.

PTI