Seven die as van falls into ravine

Rescue operations hampered by lack of phone signals, darkness, fog and traffic jam

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

As many as seven people were killed after a passenger van coming from Balochistan to Punjab fell into a ravine near Rakhi Ganj on Sunday due to speeding.

The deceased included a man and his son, while several other people were injured.

Rescue 1122 teams reached the accident site whereas Border Military Police (BMP) and locals also participated in relief work.

Reportedly, there were difficulties in rescue operations due to darkness and a lack of mobile phone signals in the area.

The bodies of the victims were taken out from the ravine.

Witnesses said the speeding passenger van coming from Fort Monroe to Dera Ghazi Khan went out of control near Rakhi Ganj and fell into the gorge that was more than 500 feet deep.

As a result of the accident, seven passengers including Riaz, son of Ayub, Muhammad Waqas, son of Islam, Wazir, son of Sher Dil, Imtiaz, son of Ahmed Bakhsh, Kismat Khan, son of Farooq, Muhammad Arbab, son of Kismat Khan, and an unknown person died on the spot.

The bodies were recovered by locals and BMP personnel. The driver of the vehicle, Meherban, son of Abdur Rehman, and other injured people were also rescued from the deep gorge.

The rescue operations were also affected by darkness, fog and traffic blockade.

Road accidents have been reported frequently in the province during recent months.

On September 29, 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 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 injured in the accident. Police impounded 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 the 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.

Rescue 1122 teams had to cut the vehicle to retrieve the bodies after extinguishing the fire. The bodies were charred by the fire.

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

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2020.