Seven students die in bus-van collision in Sargodha

Police say three students are battling for their lives in hospital

SARGODHA: At least seven people, including six college students, died in a road accident in the limits of Phularwan police Sargodha on Tuesday, Express News reported.

The students and the driver died when their van collided with a passenger coach on Gujrat road near Salam Interchange. According to local police, at least three critically injured students have been shifted to a nearby hospital.

Rescue-1122 and police reached the spot and shifted the injured and dead to the nearest hospital while the bus driver fled from the spot. After the tragic incident scores of locals, families, and relatives of the students rushed to the scene and protested against the negligence of the bus driver.

On Tuesday, the Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) responded to 878 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) in all 36 districts of Punjab during the last 24 hours. In these accidents, 12 people died, whereas 1,000 were injured. Out of the injured 583 were seriously injured requiring shifting to different hospitals. Whereas, 405 minor injured victims were treated at the incident site by rescue medical teams.

The majority (86%) involved motorbikes, therefore effective enforcement of traffic laws and lane discipline is essential to reduce this increasing number of accidents.

According to an estimate, 416 drivers, 15 underage drivers, 125 pedestrians and 459 passengers were among the victims of these road accidents. The statistics show that 232 RTCs were reported in Lahore which affected 237 persons placing the provincial capital at top of the list followed by 72 in Multan with 78 victims and Faisalabad at third with 67 RTCs and 78 victims.

The details further reveal that 878 victims were affected by road traffic crashes, including 777 males and 223 females aged between 18 and 40 years. According to the data, 727 motorbikes, 131 auto rickshaws, 87 motorcars, 46 vans, 17 passenger buses, 37 trucks and 86 other types of auto vehicles and slow-moving carts were involved in aforesaid road traffic accidents.