Pakistan train accident: Bodies of 19 victims retrieved from canal

LAHORE: The bodies of the 19 people, who were killed when a special train carrying troops fell into a canal due to a bridge collapse in the Punjab province, have been retrieved, officials said today.

The ill-fated train was headed to Kharian in Punjab from Pano Aqil in Sindh with more than 200 passengers, mostly army men, on board when four coaches fell in the canal near Gujranwala due to the bridge collapse on Thursday.

Initially, 14 people, mostly soldiers and officers were said to have been killed.

However, five more bodies were retrieved from the canal waters later.

With the recovery of the five bodies, an official said the rescue work had been completed and now focus has been shifted to lifting the coaches and repairing the bridge to restore the railway traffic.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif set up a seven- member team of railway and army experts to determine the cause of accident.

Officials said that sabotage cannot be ruled out as the pre-partition bridge was in good condition and a train 200 tonnes heavier had crossed over it about 90 minutes before the ill-fated military train.