Villagers try to rescue the remains of the victims in the train collision, which took place early Wednesday near Ghotki in Pakistan's southern Sindh province. The death toll from the Pakistan's worst train crash in over a decade rose to 132, a government official said. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

    GHOTKI, Pakistan, July 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Rescue workers searched through the night for possible survivors as the death toll from the Pakistan's worst train crash in over a decade rose to 132, a government official said Thursday.

    The accident occurred in the early morning of Wednesday when the driver of a Karachi-bound express coming from eastern Lahore city misread a signal and hit the standing Quetta express at Sarhad station near Ghotki, some 1,300 kilometers from the capital Islamabad.

    A third train coming from Karachi then hit three carriages of the Quetta Express which had tossed into a nearby through track, leading to colossal loss of lives.

    "I can confirm 132 deaths by midnight with about 130 wounded," spokesman for the provincial government Salauddin Haider told Xinhua.

    As many as 130 passengers were being treated at the combined military hospital in Ghotki while four critically wounded were flown to Karachi, a southern port city.

    Haider said bodies of 37 victims have been identified and handed over to their relatives while hospital officials were stilltrying to locate relatives of other victims.

    "As many as 37 bodies are totally mutilated and are impossible to identify," he added.

    There were many tragic scenes at the site of the incident. A 60-year-old lady was still searching for her young grandson.

    "I am still looking for my grandson who was traveling with me to Karachi. I don't know what to do," Irshad Bibi said.

    Muhammad Mansoor was one of the lucky survivors who were traveling along with four friends to Karachi.

    "I have lost one of my friends and another one is in critical condition, I don't know what will happen to him," said Mansoor, one of whose friends also lost his right leg.

    The rescue work is efficient and smooth. The stranded passengers have already been moved to their respective destinations and the track is being cleared and the down track service has already been restored.

    The government has set up toll-free telephone hotlines and crisis centers following the crash. The railway authorities are trying to keep the worrying families informed and lists of victims are put up at the railway stations across the country.

    President General Pervez Musharraf visited the site of the accident late Wednesday. He ruled out sabotage and blamed neglect as the possible cause for the disaster.

    Meanwhile, an official report by the Pakistan Railways company released Thursday said as many as 1,218 people died and more than 2,000 wounded in various train accidents since 1990.

    The worst accident occurred in December 1989. A train crash near Sangi, a town about 50 kilometers from Ghotki, killed 400 people.

    A train carrying 800 passengers from Karachi to Lahore ran intoa parked freight train at Ghotki on June 8, 1991, killing more than 100 people. Enditem