Passengers electrocuted in Pak train accident

Hyderabad (Pakistan), Jan 29: At least eight Shi'ite Muslims were electrocuted and more than 30 injured in southern Pakistan today after being hit by live wires while travelling on the top of a train, a railway official said.

The victims were travelling from Rawalpindi to a religious ceremony in Rohri during the Islamic month of Moharram, when the country's Shi'ite minority mourns the death of one of their sect's heroes.

''These people got on a express train coming from Rawalpindi which was already packed as they wanted to get to Rohri where the congregation is held every year,'' railway official Khalid Amin said.

The accident occured near Shikarpur town, around 400 km (240 miles) from Hyderabad city and Amin said the casualties could rise as some were badly injured.

Local police officer Mir Hasan Chandio said most of the passengers were going to attend the Moharram ceremony.

''Since they were going to attend a Moharram congregation there was a lot of fervour and passion and some of them were standing up when the live wires hit them,'' Chandio said.

Reuters