Chichawatni road crash kills six

Victims were travelling to Mamu Kanjan to attend funeral

CHICHWATNI:

At least six members of a family including two men, three women and a minor boy were killed in a road accident in Chichawatni on Tuesday.

As per the details available with The Express Tribune, the horrible collision between a trailer truck and a car occurred on Kamalia Road which claimed the lives of six family members.

As per the police report, the family of Arifwala village was traveling to Mamu Kanjan to attend a funeral of their relative when the accident took place.

Police said after crossing the River Ravi bridge, the car collided with a trailer truck coming from the opposite direction after its driver lost control.

The car driver drove the car away from the road in an attempt to protect his vehicle, yet it got bumped after the truck overturned and hit the car.

As a result of the incident, six people died on the spot.

A Rescue 1122 ambulance shortly reached the site and began rescue activities.

Reportedly, the car was cut to take out the bodies of the victims. The deceased victims were identified as 5-year-old Daniyal, 55-year-old Zubaida bibi, 40-year-old Afshan bibi, 22-year-old Mehreen, a toddler, 22-year-old Zeeshan and 40-year-old Khadim Hussain, all from the same family.

The dead bodies were shifted to Chichawatni THQ hospital. The driver responsible for the accident managed to flee from the site of the accident.

Road accidents in the province are rampant due to reckless driving. At least 16 people died, while 925 were injured in 852 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) in all 36 districts of Punjab during the last 24 hours. Out of this, 551 people were injured. The majority (68%) involved motorcycles.

On September 20, five members of a family were killed on Gojra Motorway while travelling from Lahore to Layyah after their car collided with a tractor trolley near Faisalabad.

A man, his two sons and another couple were killed, while an eight-year-old boy was seriously injured in the accident.

The bodies were handed over to the heirs after completion of legal formalities.

Police seized both the vehicles and started search for the tractor driver who had fled from the scene after the accident.

Muhammad Imran, 35, a resident of Chowk Azam Layyah, planned to leave for Libya and his family went to see him off from the Lahore Airport in a car. They were told that Imran’s flight to Libya had been delayed for four days.

The family members were going back from Lahore to Layyah on the motorway when the driver fell asleep and the car collided head-on with the tractor on the motorway M4 near Chak No 350GB. The car was badly damaged in the collision.

On July 26, a speeding truck crushed five people travelling on a motorcycle to death on GT Road near Okara. The victims belonged to the same family.

Irfan, son of Siddique, a resident of Shergarh, along with 60-year-old Zarina Bibi, 30-year-old Nazia, 5-year-old Isha, and 3-year-old Abiha, was traveling on a motorcycle on GT Road to visit relatives when a recklessly driven truck coming from the opposite direction slammed into the two-wheeler, killing all five members of the family.

On June 15, at least six members of a family who were travelling to attend a Valima ceremony were killed when a van caught fire after an accident on the motorway near Gojra, Faisalabad.

The deceased included two children and a woman, while 10 people, including six children, were injured. They were admitted to the Allied Hospital Faisalabad.

Rescue 1122 teams had to cut the vehicle to retrieve the bodies after extinguishing the fire. The bodies were charred by the fire. Rescue 1122 officials handed them over to the police.

Reportedly, the fire engulfed the van after it collided with a container truck.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2020.