Karachi: A long-distance train collided into stationary coaches in the Pakistani port city of Karachi Thursday, killing at least 20 people, hospital officials said, in the country's second major rail collision in less than two months.
Television footage showed mangled and overturned carriages, and media reported rescuers were working to free people trapped in the wreckage.
Train traffic between Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, and the rest of the country was suspended after the collision near the city's Landhi station, television news channels reported.
Sixty-five people were injured in the collision, said Seemin Jamali, head of the emergency department at Karachi's main Jinnah hospital.
The collision occurred between the moving Zakaria Express and the stationary Fareed Express at 7:18 am, the railways ministry said.
Two compartments of Fareed Express and one bogie of Zakaria Express were completely destroyed in the collision.
Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique pointed at negligence as a possible cause, with a stop signal being ignored. According to initial investigation, the driver of Zakaria Express ignored the signal, Geo News reported.
The whereabouts of the driver and assistant driver of the Zakaria Express were unknown, he said.
He ordered an investigation which would be completely within 72 hours.
"Facts will be brought forward, and whoever is responsible will not escape legal action and punishment," he said.
President Mamnoon Hussain and prime minister Nawaz Sharif expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in accident.
Sharif ordered immediate inquiry into the accident and directed authorities to provide medical facilities to the injured.
Rafique announced Rs 10,00,000 as compensation for the dead and Rs 500,000 for the injured.
In September, at least four people were killed and 93 injured when an express train collided with a freight train near the city of Multan in Punjab province.
Pakistan's colonial-era railway network has fallen into disrepair in recent decades due to chronic under-investment and poor maintenance.
(With agency inputs)