MEHRABPUR, Pakistan — Plunged into darkness and chaos, Shahid Khan used the light from his cellphone Wednesday to escape the wreckage of an express train that had been taking holiday travelers home.
It was 2 a.m., and what was left of the train, crowded with 900 people heading from Karachi to near Lahore in southern Pakistan, lay scattered about a waterlogged field, with cries from the trapped and injured ringing out.
At least 58 people died and 150 more were injured when about 12 of the 16 cars came off the rails near Mehrabpur, about 250 miles north of Karachi.
“The train was going at full speed. Then there was a sudden jerk and we felt the train sinking into the earth. There was chaos everywhere,” said the 25-year-old Khan, sitting next to bundles of luggage he had salvaged from a car lying on its side. He had been traveling with six relatives.
Another passenger, Mohammed Yusuf, sat on a pink blanket next to a pile of shoes and clothes, wailing in grief at the death of his younger brother.
Yusuf, 26, said his brother survived the impact and was crying out in pain, but was unable to free his trapped leg from the wreckage.
“It’s unbearable. Don’t say that he is dead,” he pleaded, as other relatives tried to console him.
He said his wife, two children and another brother were injured and taken to a hospital, their conditions unknown.
It was unclear what caused the accident, which left hundreds of terrified passengers trying to claw their way out of the wreckage in total darkness.
Brig. Nazhar Jamil, the army officer in charge of the relief operation, said an initial inspection of the track found no sign of sabotage. He said excessive speed coupled with poor maintenance might have been to blame. The train had been full but not overcrowded.
