At least five people were killed and 13 others injured in an accident between a van and a trailer truck on National Highway near Khan Bela on Wednesday.
The injured included four children and three women.
The bodies and injured were shifted to the Khan Bela Hospital. All the injured were later referred to Rahim Yar Khan for treatment.
However, Rescue 1122 ambulances arrived at the spot after a considerable delay to shift the injured.
The container overturned over the van after the collision. The van driver and cleaner were also killed.
An atmosphere of mourning gripped the city after the accident.
There is no 1122 centre on the highway and rescue workers had to cover a distance of 24 kilometres to reach the accident site.
The accident took place when driver of the van going to Sadiqabad from Alipur tried to avoid hitting a motorcycle at Zafarabad. The van rammed into the highway divider after its tyre burst, and collided with the truck coming from the opposite direction. After the collision, the container of the trailer fell on the van.
As a result, four people died on the spot and one on the way to hospital, while 13 people, including three women and four children, were injured.
All the injured and dead were rushed to Khan Bella Hospital by people present at the site in private vehicles. Doctors at the hospital referred all of them to Rahim Yar Khan after first aid for further treatment.
A large number of local people gathered at the hospital after the accident.
One of the citizens present at the hospital said four people were killed in a car accident in Fatehpur Kamal a few days ago. He said there was no Rescue 1122 centre along a 100km portion of the National Highway for providing timely medical assistance after accidents.
The deceased were identified as Juma, a resident of Sadiqabad, Arshad, son of Rasool Bakhsh, cleaner Bagho Bahar, Allah Ditta, son of Piran Ditta, a resident of Chak 64D, Sadiqabad, and driver Ashiq Hussain.
The injured were identified as Zainul Abideen, Muhammad Arshad, Mohammad Saeed, Wajid Ali, Muhammad Arif, Ghulam Farid, Ghulam Hussain, Quratulain, Shahbaz, Abdul Qudoos, Mohammad Waleed, Bharawan Mai, Sadoor Mai and Parveen Bibi.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2020.
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