Islamabad, Jan 29 At least 12 people were electrocuted and several injured when an overhead power line fell onto a passenger train in the southern Pakistani city of Shikarpur. Many passengers were reportedly sitting on the roof of the train.

The train, with hundreds of people on board, was heading southeast from Jacobabad to Rohri to join a Muharram mourning procession Sunday, private news channel Geo TV reported.

The electric wire fell on the train near a rail crossing in Shikarpur, 380 km northeast of Karachi, the capital of Sindh province.

The train was stopped after the incident and those injured were rushed to hospital.

The fatalities and injuries were caused as people were either electrocuted or tossed off the top of the moving train after they were hit by the high voltage power line, said the report.

Sunday, the eighth day of Muharram, which is the first month in the Islamic calendar, is marked by mourning processions by Shia Muslims. Shias hold bigger mourning processions on the ninth day of Muharram.