Power line kills 11 on train roof

[John Ashworth]

Power line kills 11 on train roof


Zarar Khan in Karachi, and Associated Press
Monday January 29, 2007
The Guardian

Dozens of people sitting on the roof of a crowded passenger train were hit by an overhead power line in southern Pakistan yesterday, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 40 others, the railways minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, said.

The tragedy occurred near the town of Sukkur in Sindh province.

The victims were either electrocuted or tossed off the top of the moving train after the high-voltage line hit them.

Many of those on the roof were Shia Muslim pilgrims who were travelling to the town of Rohri, near Sukkur, to attend a religious gathering, said Ahmed Khan, a railroad official in Sukkur.

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Some of the passengers carried religious flags and other symbols that apparently struck the overhead electricity line, electrocuting and throwing people off the train, he said. It was not known how many people were on the train roof, but Mr Khan said those who could not get inside the crowded train had clambered onto the roof.