Drive responsibly: Thirteen die in road, rail accidents

NH&MP head identifies locations where accidents are most likely to occur

FAISALABAD/BHAKKAR:

Eight members of a family, including four women and a child, died in a road accident near Harsa Shaikh, Chiniot, on Sunday.

Chiniot police said Maqsood Ahmed’s family, residents of Mandi Bahauddin, were on their way to Jhang in a Suzuki van. They were going to attend the funeral of a relative who had recently passed away.

Near Harsa Shaikh, on Pindi Bhattian Road, a dumper vehicle that was approaching the van from the opposite side rammed into the van at a high speed.  Asghar, the van driver, Ahmed, Manzoor Ahmed, eight-year-old Jamshed, Zubaida Bibi, Irshad Bibi, Naseem Bibi and Azra Bibi were badly injured. They died before they could taken to a hospital for treatment of their injuries.  Shehzad, Aalia Firdous and an infant were injured in the accident and were taken to the Chiniot District Headquarters Hospital from where they were referred to the Allied Hospital. Doctors said their condition was critical. The police took the bodies to a mortuary. They said the person who was driving the dumper driver had fled. Police said they were looking for the man.

Bus set alight

Two people died in an accident between a bus and a motorcycle in a Mankaira police precinct in Bhakkar on Sunday. Police said scores of relatives of the deceased and residents of the area had gathered and set the bus alight.

They said Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Saqlain were on their way to Fatehpur on a motorcycle. A bus, on its way to Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan, rammed into them at high speed, killing them on the spot. The bus driver managed to flee.

Scores of people gathered at the scene of the accident and torched the bus. None of the passengers was injured in the incident. Traffic on the highway was blocked for several hours. A contingent from the Mankaira police station arrived and tried to convince the protesters to disperse. Police said they had registered a case against the bus driver.

Oncoming trains

Two people died after they were hit by trains in Faisalabad and Multan on Sunday.

A 31-year-old man was crossing a rail track in the Sahianwala area of Faisalabad when he was hit by a train. His family gathered at the rail track and set it on fire.

Pakistan Railways officials said that the Karakoram Express and the Pakistan Express trains had been delayed after the disruption caused by the protest.

Separately, a woman was crossing a rail track near the Piran Ghaib train station when she hit by a Karachi-bound train. Her body was taken to Nishtar Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Assessing high-accident prone areas

National Highways and Motorway Police (NH&MP) DIG Faran Baig on Sunday visited various “black spots” on the National Highway at the Manga Mandi By-Pass on Sunday.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the NH&MP head said the purpose of the visit was to analyse the various causes of accidents, to check why these ‘black spots’ formed, condition of roads and traffic safety facilities, and the traffic flow.

The DIG said the Paka Meel U-Turn, the Hino Factory U-Turn, the International Container U-Turn , Ali Garh School, Maraka, Mohelenwal, Sunder, Manga Mandi, Karmaabad, the turn at Pattoki, the Habibabad bridge, the Renala By-pass in Okara, View Hotel Sahiwal, Burewala Chowk on the Chichawatni By-pass, the Kabirwala By-Pass, Basti Malook, and the Bahawalpur Link Road were major trouble points.

He pointed at various engineering faults, straight entry towards city, double U-turn crossings, zig-zag crossings, blind turns, lack of barriers and the absence of a mandatory service road as the major reasons for ‘black spots’.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2016.