Tragedy as Indonesia ferry blast kills two, Pakistan train crash kills at least six, injures scores

The scene of the crash

An explosion on a ferry carrying 35 tourists between the Indonesian resort islands of Bali and Lombok on Thursday killed two people, an Indonesian and a Dutch national, and injured 13, police said.

“Two of them died, 13 were injured,” Bali police spokesman Made Sudana said, adding the explosion happened off the coast of Lombok.

“It seems there was some sort of explosion on the boat, so there was an emergency with the engine.”

Tourists on board included Australian, Korean, British, French, and German citizens, according to media.

A Karachi-bound express train collided with a freight train in Pakistan’s central Punjab region early on Thursday, killing at least six people and injuring more than 150, Geo TV said.

The Awam Express hit a stationary cargo train about 25 km (15 miles) from the city of Multan, Geo TV said, citing local officials. Four carriages were overturned.

There was a delay in the emergency response due to Eid holidays in Pakistan, a mainly Muslim nation of 190 million people.

About 10 people were badly injured.

Pakistan’s colonial era railway network has fallen into disrepair in recent decades due to chronic under investment and poor maintenance.

About 130 people were killed in July 2005 when a train rammed into another at a station in Sindh province, and a third train hit the wreckage.