Nine passengers killed in separate incidents

Both road accidents took place due to heavy fog and low visibility, say police

SUKKUR: Nine people, including women and children, were killed while more than 30 others were injured in two separate road accidents in Kandhkot and Khairpur late Sunday night.

The first accident took place when two passenger coaches collided near Kandhkot Bypass. According to the Kandhkot police, one of the vehicles was on its way to Peshawar from Karachi and the other was going to Karachi from Bannu. The police added that the coaches collided due to heavy fog near Kandhkot Bypass.

As a result, seven passengers, including a woman, were killed on the spot and 25 others were injured. The area police and Edhi Foundation ambulances rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies and injured to Civil Hospital, Kandhkot. Four of the deceased have been identified as Akhtar Muhammad, Muhammad Imam Shah, Azizullah and Shah Mir Khan, while the remaining have yet to be identified.

The injured include Irham Jan, Maqbool Ahmed, Pir Muhammad, Zarang, Muhammad Amanat, Yar Ali, Muhammad Jawed, Ayaz Ahmed, Junaid Ahmed, Noor Badshah, Asif Ali, Shamim Khatoon, Rubina and Naz Gul. A Section police station Kandhkot head constable Muhammad Moosa Domki said that out of the seven bodies, six have been shifted to Peshawar and one to Karachi. Some of the passengers with minor injuries were sent home after getting first-aid, while the remaining injured persons were either shifted to hospitals in Karachi or Rahim Yar Khan, he added.

Separately, a Sukkur-bound passenger wagon crashed into a truck parked by the roadside on Mehran National Highway near Waritur village in Kumb late Sunday night.

As a result, a woman and her 10-month-old daughter, Zehra, were killed and six passengers were injured. The passenger wagon was on its way to Sukkur from Shaheed Benazirabad.

The deceased woman was identified as Khatoon, wife of Jameel Qadri.

The injured passengers include Jameel Qadri, Nisar Ahmed, Muhammad Zaman and Ghulam Qadir. According to sources, the accident took place because of heavy fog and all the injured were sent home after they were provided with first-aid. The wagon driver managed to escape from the scene while the police have impounded the vehicles.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2017.