Two killed, 60 injured in horrific highway pile-up
People say sharp U-turn to blame for increasing accidents.
KARACHI:
Two people were killed and 60 others were injured in a brutal road accident on the National Highway early Monday. A speeding trailer overturned on a bus loaded with passengers and three more heavy vehicles - including an NED University of Engineering and Technology point bus, a truck and a Pakistan Steel Mills bus - rammed into the wreck, resulting in a pile-up.
However, according to witnesses the passenger bus, bearing licence number PE-3708, collided with a wrongly parked ten-wheeler trailer, C-9980, and then the three vehicles collided.
The deceased were identified as 30-year-old Jamil Ahmed, a truck driver, and Fazal Rahim, a conductor of the Muslim Coach. Their bodies were taken to Jinnah hospital for legal formalities.
Meanwhile, DSP Bin Qasim Town Abdul Fateh said that those who were critically injured were sent to Jinnah hospital and one patient was taken to National Medical Centre. Others were admitted to Aga Khan hospital.
Provincial Minister for Health Dr Sagheer Ahmed declared an emergency in hospitals. The buses had to be removed from the highway by cranes after which the road was opened for traffic.
The victims sustained all sorts of injuries, including fractures and head injuries. Some were discharged from the hospital after first-aid.
Police officials said the NED bus was taking students from the campus to Gulshan-e-Hadeed. Four female students and the bus driver were injured. Over 50 students were on board.
Bin Qasim Town SP Tanveer Alam Odho said the reopening of a sharp intersection by gasoline stations, which was earlier blocked by the city government, was the major cause of the increase in highway accidents. Meanwhile, scores of people gathered at the site said the oil terminal and the U-turn on the highway are the main causes of such accidents and these structures should be removed.
SP Odho said the police are trying to arrest the driver responsible but so far no arrests have been made. No case has been registered as yet.
The injured were identified as Farhan, 46, Aziz Gull, 47, Adil Khan, 48, Abdul Aziz, 40, Khattak 35, Gulab, 28, Abdul Habib, 42, Kareem, 37, Rasool, 38, Qurban Ali, 39, Noor Mohammed, 40, 41-year-old Khatija Khatoon, Abdul Hameed, 43, Abdul Malik, 45, Sadiq, 49, Mir Buksh, 50, Anjum, 51, Noori, 52, Maria, 54, 55-year-old Akbar, Fauzia, 56, Amir, 57, Habib Naz, 58, 59-year-old Fida, Zubair, 60, Farman, 61, Umair, 62, Sheikh Mohammad, 35, 30-year-old Rizwan, Ghulam Rasool, 36, Abdul Rehman, 63, Sahiba, 64, Kulsoom, 67, Hafizur Rehman, 68, 70-year-old Gulzar, Mushtaq, 71, Tahir, 72, 20-year-old Samir, Hamid, 60, Rehan, 25, Sajid Hassan, Saleem, Afshan and others.
In the year 2010, around a hundred people lost their lives and more than 200 were wounded in 13 accidents caused by oil tankers and 83 caused by trailers. In the first three months of the current year, 31 accidents of trucks and trailers have taken place.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2011.
Two people were killed and 60 others were injured in a brutal road accident on the National Highway early Monday. A speeding trailer overturned on a bus loaded with passengers and three more heavy vehicles - including an NED University of Engineering and Technology point bus, a truck and a Pakistan Steel Mills bus - rammed into the wreck, resulting in a pile-up.
However, according to witnesses the passenger bus, bearing licence number PE-3708, collided with a wrongly parked ten-wheeler trailer, C-9980, and then the three vehicles collided.
The deceased were identified as 30-year-old Jamil Ahmed, a truck driver, and Fazal Rahim, a conductor of the Muslim Coach. Their bodies were taken to Jinnah hospital for legal formalities.
Meanwhile, DSP Bin Qasim Town Abdul Fateh said that those who were critically injured were sent to Jinnah hospital and one patient was taken to National Medical Centre. Others were admitted to Aga Khan hospital.
Provincial Minister for Health Dr Sagheer Ahmed declared an emergency in hospitals. The buses had to be removed from the highway by cranes after which the road was opened for traffic.
The victims sustained all sorts of injuries, including fractures and head injuries. Some were discharged from the hospital after first-aid.
Police officials said the NED bus was taking students from the campus to Gulshan-e-Hadeed. Four female students and the bus driver were injured. Over 50 students were on board.
Bin Qasim Town SP Tanveer Alam Odho said the reopening of a sharp intersection by gasoline stations, which was earlier blocked by the city government, was the major cause of the increase in highway accidents. Meanwhile, scores of people gathered at the site said the oil terminal and the U-turn on the highway are the main causes of such accidents and these structures should be removed.
SP Odho said the police are trying to arrest the driver responsible but so far no arrests have been made. No case has been registered as yet.
The injured were identified as Farhan, 46, Aziz Gull, 47, Adil Khan, 48, Abdul Aziz, 40, Khattak 35, Gulab, 28, Abdul Habib, 42, Kareem, 37, Rasool, 38, Qurban Ali, 39, Noor Mohammed, 40, 41-year-old Khatija Khatoon, Abdul Hameed, 43, Abdul Malik, 45, Sadiq, 49, Mir Buksh, 50, Anjum, 51, Noori, 52, Maria, 54, 55-year-old Akbar, Fauzia, 56, Amir, 57, Habib Naz, 58, 59-year-old Fida, Zubair, 60, Farman, 61, Umair, 62, Sheikh Mohammad, 35, 30-year-old Rizwan, Ghulam Rasool, 36, Abdul Rehman, 63, Sahiba, 64, Kulsoom, 67, Hafizur Rehman, 68, 70-year-old Gulzar, Mushtaq, 71, Tahir, 72, 20-year-old Samir, Hamid, 60, Rehan, 25, Sajid Hassan, Saleem, Afshan and others.
In the year 2010, around a hundred people lost their lives and more than 200 were wounded in 13 accidents caused by oil tankers and 83 caused by trailers. In the first three months of the current year, 31 accidents of trucks and trailers have taken place.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2011.