At least two people were killed and 30 injured in a train crash in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province Sunday evening, Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao said.

Six carriages of the non-stop passenger train derailed at Domeli, about 100 kilometers southeast of Islamabad and plunged down into a 50-feet ravine, Sherpao said.

Five of the injured are in critical condition, the minister said, adding that about 100 persons were on board the coaches derailed.

Army spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said that army rescue teams and cranes were sent to the crash site to pull out the coaches.

The high-speed train was heading to the eastern city of Lahore, the capital of Punjab from Rawalpindi, some 30 kilometers south of Islamabad.

Sultan said that hospitals in the area have been alerted and ambulances rushed to the area.

Witnesses said that they were facing problems in rescue operation due to darkness.

There was no immediate word on the causes of the crash and the railway authorities had ordered an enquiry.

This is the second major train crash in less than one year.

More than 130 people were killed near the town of Ghotki in the Sindh province last July.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2006)