UN chief 'saddened' over train tragedy

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed his sorrow over the deaths of dozens of people in a train that caught fire caused by an exploding gas stove near Liaquatpur city, Rahim Yar Khan district, on Thursday. "The Secretary-General is saddened by the deaths of so many people in the train accident in Pakistan, and he sends his condolences to the families of the victims of this tragedy," his spokesman, Farhan Haq, said in a statement.

The news of the tragic accident has been widely covered in the American print and electronic media. At least 73 passengers lost their lives and over 40 sustained critical burn wounds on Thursday when three carriages of a Tezgam Express caught fire due to explosion in gas canisters purportedly used by Tableeghi Jamaat passengers to cook breakfast near Talwari Station in Liaquatpur area of Rahim Yar Khan. The train was bound from Karachi to Rawalpindi.

Television footage showed flames pouring out of the carriages as people could be heard crying in the incident. Many commuters died and several were injured when they jumped from the moving train to escape the flames.