At least 30 people have been killed and dozens of others injured after a train derailed in southern Pakistan.

Several carriages of a Hazara Express train derailed on Sunday near Sahara railway station in Nawabshah, Sindh province.

“This is quite a big accident,” Minister of Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique told reporters. Rafique said at least 1,000 passengers were aboard the train when it derailed on a section of track where no faults had been reported.

Senior police officer Abid Baloch said 30 bodies had been recovered and more than 60 people were injured, some critically. He said the death toll could rise as rescue operations continue.

Mohsin Syal, a railway official, earlier told HUM News channel that eight coaches of the Hazara Express, which was travelling from Karachi to Abbottabad, derailed in Nawabshah, about 275km (170 miles) from Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

Images posted to local media show dozens of people at the site, with some smashing windows to help passengers clamber out of the twisted carriages and at least one coach overturned.