STOCK IMAGE
The collision between a Punjab-bound passenger bus and a pickup truck took place near Aamri Bridge on the highway.
According to Edhi sources, around four dozen people have died on this part of the highway in accidents this month alone.
The deceased whose bodies were kept at Sehwan taluka hospital have been identified as Mehboob Ali, Mohammad Shahzad, Ansar Ali, Allah Diti and Abdul Ghaffar. The bodies were later received by the aggrieved families on Sunday afternoon. One more injured succumbed to wounds in Liaquat University Hospital.
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The bus was carrying passengers from Karachi to a city of Punjab. On June 18, an ambulance carrying a body and the deceased's family from Karachi to Punjab also met an accident on the highway near Manjhand town, leaving four persons, including a woman and two children, dead.
In reaction to the accidents, the residents of Sehwan and Manjhand town staged separate demonstrations on Sunday. They accused the government of delaying the construction of a dual carriageway, deploying the motorway police and failing to provide adequate health facilities.
The protesters, led by Zafar Umrani, Bashir Ahmed Otho and others, held the National Highway Authority and Sindh health department responsible for the accidents and deaths.
The Indus Highway's 136-kilometre stretch between Jamshoro and Sehwan towns, with its several sharp curves, witnesses frequent accidents. Several times, the district administration has requested the deployment of the motorway police to regulate the traffic. The Sindh government also requested the federal government to provide funds for expansion of the fast-track lanes in the fiscal year 2016-2017, but to no avail.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2016.
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