Student killed in Metro Bus accident in Pindi

Police apprehend driver of the bus

ISLAMABAD: A student in Rawalpindi died on Friday morning after she was run over by the Metro Bus she was riding in. Police have arrested the driver and booked him for manslaughter and rash driving.

A police officer at the Sadiqabad police station in Rawalpindi said that a side mirror on the bus had struck a pole, ostensibly due to rash driving by the driver. The mirror struck one of the windows of the bus, shattering it.



While riding through an unpaved section of the track, the driver had to pull the emergency brakes. Owing to the sudden change in momentum of the bus, 19-year-old medical student Sumera was thrown out of the broken window of the bus. Stunned, she was unable to move in time as the rear tyre of the bus crushed her.

“The accident took place at around 7:25 am,” SI Amanat Ali told The Express Tribune.

“There are reports that there was construction material lying on the track and the driver, who was unaware of this, had to hit the brakes immediately,” he added.

The driver, identified as Shahid Iqbal, fled the spot after the accident.

However, the Sadiqabad police managed to track and arrest Iqbal. He was booked for manslaughter and rash driving on a complaint filed by Sumera’s family.

Sumera was studying at a private medical university.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MNA Hanif Abbasi, who is the chairman of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus Project, told The Express Tribune that the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had formed a committee to probe the incident.



“It is an unfortunate incident. We will take every step possible to ensure that this does not happen again,” he added.

To a question about unannounced repair work on the metro bus track, which could have possibly led to the accident, Abbasi said work on the track had been under way for the past seven months and that it had not caused any other accidents.

“The accident was caused by the driver’s negligence,” Abbasi stated.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2017.