LAHORE – At least 19 Sikh pilgrims died and 10 others were injured on Friday in a collision between a train and a coaster in Sheikhupura, the Express Tribune reported.
A passenger train has crashed into a bus carrying Sikh pilgrims at an unmanned railway crossing in eastern Pakistan, killing at least 22 people and injuring several others, a senior government official has said.
The accident on Friday took place in Sheikhupura district in Punjab province, according to a statement from Imran Gondal, a Pakistani government official whose department oversees Sikh pilgrimages.
Ghazi Salahuddin, the district police chief, said the dead and injured were transported to a nearby hospital.
Officials said the Sikh pilgrims were from the northwestern city of Peshawar and were returning from the Sheikupura-based shrine of Nankana Sahib.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan offered his condolences to the families of the victims.
Deeply saddened at the accident this afternoon at a railway crossing near Sheikhupura which resulted in the death of atleast 20 people, mainly Sikh pilgrims returning from Nankana Sahib. Have directed that proper medical care be provided to the injured.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) July 3, 2020
Sikhs have several shrines of their religious leaders in Pakistan. One, of Sikh founder Guru Nanak, is located in Pakistan’s Kartarpur bordering India in Punjab. It was built after he died in the 16th century.
Many Sikh holy sites became part of Pakistan after the British partitioned the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947 following two centuries of colonial rule.
Ties between the hostile neighbouring countries deteriorated sharply after India revoked the disputed Kashmir region’s semi-autonomous status in early August