Speeding devours seven lives in city

Dumper, bus, car kill five motorcyclists, two pedestrian women

LAHORE:

At least five motorcycle riders and two pedestrian women were killed in three road accidents in the provincial capital on Monday.

A speeding dumper truck ran over a motorcycle carrying four boys in the Ichhra area, causing death on the spot of three of them.

Two of the deceased were identified as Hamza Shaid and Muneeb.

The third victim could not be identified till the evening.

The fourth motorbike rider, Zikriya Ilyas, was undergoing treatment in a hospital near the accident site. His condition was stated to be serious.

The deceased and injured youth wee reportedly residents of the Molchand area in Ichhra.

Police said they had arrested the driver involved in the accident, Ahmad Ali, and were investigating the incident.

In another accident, two people were killed after a speeding car hit a motorcycle at Bhalla Chowk in Johar Town.

The deceased were identified as Kashif and Ali Raza.

The third motorbike rider and a woman who was driving the car were also injured in the accident.

Meanwhile, two women were killed and two others injured after a bus ran over them in the Mangamandi area.

The victims were walking along a road near Shamkay Bhattian when the speeding bus crushed them.

Samina and Nasreen died on the spot.

A team shifted the bodies to a morgue for autopsy. Local police officials said they were investigating the incident.

The authorities in Punjab appears to be struggling in efforts to put in place an adequate road safety system.

Official data shows that over 900 incidents of road traffic crashes are dealt by the Rescue 1122 in the province daily on average.

In the 24 hours before Monday morning, at least eight people died, whereas 1,030 others were injured in 947 road accidents in all districts of Punjab.

At least 610 people injured in the accidents were shifted to hospitals, whereas 412 were treated at the accident sites by rescue teams.

Over 78 per cent of the accidents involved motorbikes.

The official data showed that 518 adult and 28 underage drivers, 96 pedestrians and 416 passengers were among the victims of the road traffic crashes.

The statistics show that 238 accidents were reported in Lahore, which affected 278 people, followed by 67 accidents in Gujranwala with 71 victims and 62 in Multan with 72 victims.

The people affected by the accidents included 841 males and 189 females, while 214 of them were under 18 years of age, 505 between 18 and 40, and 314 above 40 years of age.

As many as 824 motorbikes, 74 auto-rickshaws, 107 cars, 25 vans, five buses, 28 trucks and 98 other types vehicles and carts were involved in the traffic accidents.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2022.