Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique announced compensation for families of victims and those injured in Thursday’s train collision near Karachi.
The minister said the government will provide Rs.1500,000 to each family of deceased and Rs 800,000 to each injured in the train accident.
At least 20 people were killed and more than 60 injured after two trains carrying hundreds of passengers collided near Karachi early Thursday.
Witnesses described watching in horror as Zakaria Express (from Multan) rammed into Fareed Express (from Lahore), which was parked at Quaidabad Railway Station.
The roar of the crash swiftly followed by the screams of people trapped inside.
Rescuers armed with metal-cutting equipment and heavy cranes fought to reach passengers trapped in the twisted wreckage.
The rescue operation continued for about five hours, after which rail traffic was partially restored.
The rescue teams were joined by the military, police as well as locals.
The engine of one train appeared destroyed, but the exact extent of the damage was unclear.
A senior administration official in Karachi said there could have been up to 1,000 passengers in total on board the trains when the accident occurred.
Seemi Jamali, the spokeswoman at Karachi’s Jinnah Hospital, told a foreign media agency that at least 17 people had died. Earlier she said the hospital had received some 50 wounded.
Meanwhile, the death toll reached 20, and may rise as many of the wounded were critical.
Train accidents are common in Pakistan, which inherited thousands of miles (kilometres) of track and trains from former colonial power, Britain.
The railways have seen decades of decline due to corruption, mismanagement and lack of investment.
Thursday’s crash was the second this year involving the Fareed Express. In February the northbound train hit a van at a crossing in southern Pakistan, killing eight people from the same family.
Railway accidents in Pakistan often take place at the unmanned crossings, which often lack barriers and sometimes signals.
In September four people were killed and more than 100 injured when two trains collided near the central city of Multan.
The accident occurred when the Karachi-bound “Awam Express” passenger train rammed into a goods train that had stopped after running over a man near the city of Multan.
