At least 30 people have been killed and around a hundred injured after a train derailed in southern Pakistan. Several carriages of the Hazara Express overturned near the Sahara railway station in the town of Nawabshah, about 275 km from Karachi, the BBC reported.

The injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals. Rescuers are trying to free people from the wreckage.

Railways Minister Saad Rafique said the train was moving at normal speed. Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the accident. Among the possibilities, the minister said, are technical failure or sabotage.

Pakistan's railway network is in a deplorable state and train accidents there are frequent.

Videos posted on social media showed dozens of people at the scene of the fatal accident, with some passengers trying to extricate themselves from the overturned and crushed carriages.

Tragic Train Derailment in Pakistan: 30 Lives Lost, 100 Injured ????????

Thread: pic.twitter.com/z33rJSi7YR

— biryani_bruh (@Sumeetyadav5) August 6, 2023

A Karachi Railway spokesman said at least eight carriages had derailed.

One of the survivors said he saw many women and children lying on the ground.

"They were moaning and screaming in pain. I didn't know what to do. I took handfuls of water from a nearby canal and poured it on the faces of those who were unconscious, hoping to wake them up," says Nasir Ahmed.

He himself survived because he jumped out of the carriage window after the train derailed.

"We woke up suddenly when we felt that our carriage was flying down somewhere. It was like an apocalypse," said another passenger, Aslam, who was traveling with his son.

A state of emergency has been declared in Nawabshah and neighboring districts of Sindh.

Sindh Provincial Information Minister Sharjeel Memon announced that the government's top priority now is to help the injured. Rescuers at the crash site were assisted by military and security personnel who were involved in removing the wreckage and removing bodies trapped by the metal.

The rescue work at the scene of the accident was completed on Sunday evening.

Two years ago, two trains collided in Sindh province, killing at least 40 people and injuring dozens.

According to local media, in the period 2013-2019, 150 people died in such incidents.

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