Khairpur accident: Family doesn’t blame driver, claim they had travelled with him before

Nawab’s children opted for the bus which met with a tragic accident in Khairpur

KARACHI: The families of Banaras, Qasba Colony and Ittehad Town were in mourning for the 11 people who passed away in a road accident in Khairpur on Tuesday.

Five of these 11 were from the same family and used to live in Karnal Basti, Old Sabzi Mandi.

Nawab and Nisar Khan's family of nine had gone to their ancestral village near Bahrain in Swat a few months ago. Out of these nine, five died and the others - two children and the parents are still alive.

The children were on the bus and the parents flew back to Karachi. Family members claim that they had gone to the village for the summer.



Nawab and his wife flew to Karachi from Peshawar as his wife was not feeling well. The others had decided to reach their destination via road.

Nawab and his wife did not know that this decision meant that they might never get to see their son Ghulam Ishaq Khan, daughter Saima, daughter-in-law Tauheeda and two grandchildren ever again. Two of their other children - Umerzadi, 3, and Muzamil were injured in the accident and are being treated.

"Ishaq was an unemployed young man," said his uncle Gul Nawab while talking to The Express Tribune. "We are all in shock."

More than a hundred people - family, friends and neighbours of the deceased gathered to attend the funeral which was held at the Ghani Football Stadium in Old Sabzi Mandi on Wednesday morning.

The atmosphere was tense with emotion when the bodies were being brought to the ground from the house.

Nawab claimed that most of the people who died in the accident were from Swat and their bodies were being taken back to their villages.

"We have been living in Karachi for the last 35 years," he said. "This is why we brought our children here for the burial."

Gul Nawab thought that the accident was fate accompli and don't hold the bus driver responsible for the accident.



"The driver was an experienced man," he said. "We can't blame anyone for their deaths."

He added that the driver of the bus belonged to their own village and they had been travelling in his bus for years.

While talking to The Express Tribune, family members said that the parents will still in shock and could not believe what had happened.

"You cannot replace your loved ones but the government must compensate the families," said a relative during the funeral.

The bodies were brought to the Edhi morgue in Sohrab Goth from Khairpur.

They were handed over to the families after the legal formalities were completed.

Around six other bodies were brought in from Khairpur.

The deceased were identified as Bilqees, daughter of Toti Khan, Sahib Bibi, daughter of Saeed Khan, Samiullah, son of Saeed Khan, Muhammad Iqbal, son of Zosham Khan, Sajjid, son of Muhammad Iqbal and Badri Begum.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2014.