Driver dies as tractor-trolley, train collide near Rahim Yar Khan

RAHIM YAR KHAN: A tractor-trolley driver died while a train derailed from its track when both the vehicles collided Monday morning.

According to railway sources, the accident occurred as the Jetha Bhutta track was left open ahead of the arrival of the train, Pakistan Express. Subsequently, the tractor-trolley driver Shabbir Ali took his vehicle on the track which resulted in the collision of the two vehicles.

Ali was accompanied by his helper who saved his life by jumping off the tractor-trolley.

The accident also caused the train to derail from its track, and damaged the up-track.

The passage of trains on the affected track remained suspended for five hours, during which the up-track was sent for repair to Feroza Station.

The occurrence of such accidents is frequent as vehicles, including rickshaws, cars and motorcycles, are often seen driving across open railway track gates, eventually being hit by trains that are scheduled to cross the path.

In December 2017, four people were injured when a Multan-bound train collided with a trailer-truck, which got stuck at the railway track.

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Prior to that, in July 2017, three people on a motorbike were killed when a train hit their vehicle.

In a similar incident earlier last year, six people were killed when a train hit a car in Gojra.

Before that, in January 2017, a motorcycle-rickshaw collided with the Hazara Express, resulting in the death of eight people, including six schoolchildren and the driver in Lodhran.

The accident occurred when 15 children were en route to school. As in the other such accidents, the gate at the site of the Lodhran crash was also left open.