Three killed after bus rams into signboard

Rescue 1122 spokesman says 13 others injured

RAWALPINDI:

At least three people died while 13 others suffered serious injuries when a passenger bus rammed into a roadside signboard near Islamabad Motorway M-1 Fateh Jang Interchange on Saturday.

Motorway Police and Rescue 1122 teams reached the spot and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital.

Rescue 1122 spokesman said that the accident occurred due to speeding. The accident was so horrific that the passenger bus split into two parts. He added that the bus was on its way to Rawalpindi from Dera Ghazi Khan. The accident happened between Friday and Saturday night.

The driver escaped after the accident, said the police, adding that they were waiting for some injured to feel better and then they would record their statements and register a case against him.

The deceased were identified as 24-year-old Moula Bux, 17-year-old Yasir Ali and a 32-year-old man whose identity has yet to be ascertained. The injured included Ahmed Sher, 20, Ghulam Ali, 24, Mohammad Ashraf, 35, Ahmed, 21, Allah Dad, 45, Mohammad Ramazan, 35, Abdullah, 20, Mudassir, 30, Aasiya, 40, Shahram, 20, Atiqur Rehman, 27, Mohammad Faizan, 26 and Shafiullah, 21.

After the accident the rescue operation continued for two hours, said the spokesman, adding that the teams had to cut off various parts of the bus to rescue passengers.

The Motorway Police carried out their duties to restore traffic on the main highway near Fateh Jang Interchange. The traffic police said that according to the preliminary investigation, the passenger bus accident happened due to high speed.

The passenger bus was completely destroyed in the accident. With the help of heavy machinery of the highway department, the bus was removed from the motorway.

The bodies of the deceased will be handed over to heirs after completing legal and medical formalities.

Smuggling bid foiled

The Anti-Narcotics Force on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle heroin and narcotics abroad in two separate operations and arrested six accused.

On a tip-off, the ANF first carried out a raid on a private courier company at a housing society near airport. During the raid, more than 1.5 kilogrammes of heroin was recovered from a crockery parcel bound for the UK.

During the operation, three suspects, including the owner of the company, were arrested. Even though the accused knew about the heroin, they hid it from the law enforcement agencies. The accused were in contact with the recipient of the parcel in the UK.

The arrested accused were identified as Ismail, Nabil and Raza Hussain. A case has been registered against the accused under the Anti-Narcotics Act and further investigation is underway.

The second raid was carried out at the entrance gate of the Islamabad airport. During the search, 2500 Xanax tablets were recovered from luggage kept in a vehicle. Narcotic Xanax tablets were hidden in Nimko packets. During the operation, three accused namely Abdul Qadir, Sanaullah and Adnan Khan, residents of Lakki Marwat, were arrested. Accused Qadir was to leave for Dammam via Dubai by flight a EY-232. A case was registered against the three accused and further investigation is under way.

Meanwhile, customs officials at the Islamabad airport recovered 600 iPhones from the luggage of a passenger coming to Pakistan from Sharjah.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2022.