Dangerous driving: Nine passengers die in a bus crash near Kahuta

Third incident in the area in a month, killing over 40 people.

RAWALPINDI:

At least nine passengers perished in yet another road accident near Kahuta on Tuesday morning when a bus fell into a ditch, the third major accident during the last two months in the same area. The bus (LXU-9350) with 52 passengers on board fell into a ditch near Punjaar village on the Kahuta-Rawalpindi road at about 8:45am. The bus was coming from Narr village to Rawalpindi and the driver could not slow down the bus after its brakes failed, said Muhammad Aziz, one of the 43 passengers injured in the accident.

The bus fell into a 30-meter-deep ditch before rolling over multiple times, said Aziz, who had injuries on his head and arms. Of the total injured, 13 were discharged from Kahuta Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ) after providing first aid and 30 others were shifted to different hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The dead were identified as Tariq Hussain, Junaid Zareef, Shakeel Ilyas, Arif Hussain, Aurangzeb, Muhammad Ibrahim, Waqarul Ahsan, Ameenullah and Aziz Makhan.

City Police Officer (CPO) Azhar Hameed Khokher said that according to initial reports, the cause of the accident was speeding. Further investigations are underway, the CPO added.

The Kahuta Police Station House Officer (SHO) Raja Salim said a case has been registered against Muhammad Zubair, the driver, who also sustained injuries and is under treatment in a hospital.

On June 3, a bus going to Chakwal from Kahuta with a wedding party on board fell in a ditch near the area, killing 25 passengers. The driver was arrested and a criminal case was registered against him for death caused by rash driving.

So far, the area police have not gotten the motor vehicle examiner’s report on that incident to establish what caused the bus to go off the road.

In another accident on June 4, a jeep carrying 10 people and en route to Kahuta from Sanohri village plunged into a deep ditch in the area, killing all on board.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2012.