At least 65 people were killed and over 100 others injured in twin accidents between Reti and Daharki railway stations where eight carriages of the Millat Express derailed just before the Sir Syed Express rammed into them near Dharki, a city located in the Ghotki district of upper Sindh early on Monday morning.

The rescue operation was completed and the track has been cleared after retrieving 17 coaches that had been damaged by the crash and the engine of the train, Geo News quoted as saying Divisional Superintendent, Railway Sukkur Tariq Latif.

“The up and down track has been restored. We have received orders to resume train service,” he said. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ghotki, Umar Tufail, told reporters that the death toll rose to 65 after more bodies were retrieved. He said that over 100 people were also injured, some of them seriously.

Minister for railways Azam Swati said if his resignation meant the deceased can come back to life, he was ready to do so even as he promised a comprehensive inquiry. He said that train tracks in the Sukkur Division were in poor condition.

“We have to find out now who is responsible for this accident,” he said.

The deadly accident occurred when the Sir Syed Express headed from Rawalpindi to Karachi, coming from the other direction, smashed into derailed coaches of the first train in the adjacent track, a spokesperson of Pakistan Railways said.

“The driver tried to apply emergency brakes but the locomotive hit the infringing coaches,” the railways said in an initial report. Rescuing trapped passengers was a “challenge” for the rescue officials who had to employ heavy machinery to free people.