KARACHI: An inter-city train driver has been suspended after he made an unscheduled stop to pick up some yoghurt.
A video of the driver’s assistant collecting the snack from a street stall before climbing back into the carriage has been circulating on social media.
The incident on Monday raised questions about the safety and regulation of railways at a time when accidents have become common due to mismanagement and neglect.
“When you stop a train in the middle (of the tracks) it becomes a safety issue. Safety is our priority. We cannot tolerate anything which compromises safety,” Syed Ijaz ul-Hassan Shah, a spokesman for the railway ministry, told AFP on Wednesday.
The passenger service had started its journey in Lahore and was moving south towards Karachi.
In a statement, the minister of railways, Azam Khan Swati, warned he will not “allow anyone to use national assets for personal use”.
A railway official admitted to AFP that such incidents are not uncommon in Pakistan, and that oversight is often lacking.
More than 60 people were killed in June when a train hurtling through farmland smashed into the carriages of another service that had derailed minutes earlier.
