Death toll from Pakistan train accident rises to 17

The death toll from a Pakistan rail accident has risen to 17, the army has said, the day after a special military train fell into a canal when a bridge partially collapsed, GEO TV reported Saturday.

A senior officer was among those killed when four of the train’s carriages carrying troops and military equipment derailed and fell from Chanawan Bridge in the eastern province of Punjab.

“Total bodies recovered till now (are) 17. Search (still) continues,” Major General Asim Bajwa, the army’s main spokesman, said in a message posted on his Twitter account.

The incident occurred near the eastern town of Wazirabad as the train carried soldiers from southern Sindh province to the garrison town of Kharian.

It is not yet clear why the bridge – a simple, single-track rail-only crossing passing just a few feet above the water of the canal – collapsed.