7 killed in Galiyat mishap

Eyewitnesses say two racing buses collided on Murree-Galiyat road

RAWALPINDI:

At least seven people were killed and 37 others including women and children injured when a passenger bus they were travelling in plunged into a deep ditch in Khaira Gali on Monday, police and rescue officials said.

According to rescue officials and police, 14 women were among the injured.

The passenger bus was going from Galiyat to Murree when the driver failed to negotiate a sharp turn after two buses collided at Khaira Gali on Galiyat Road.

According to eyewitnesses, both the bus drivers were racing and the two buses collided due to high speed and one fell into a ditch, killing seven people on the spot and injuring 37 others.

According to sources, rescue operations could not be started on time due to week signals from cellular phones at the scene of the incident. Galiyat and Murree administrations, Rescue 1122 and locals took part in the rescue operation.

At least 10 critically injured were shifted from Murree to Holy Family Hospital and the District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi for treatment.

At least 12 injured were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Murree, nine to hospitals in K-P and 16 injured to Khaira Gali Primary Health Centre.

Rescue 1122 official Sibghatullah said that a total of 44 people travelling in the bus and of them, seven died on the spot.

The dead included Rashid Iftikhar, 36, Usman Zaraj, 45, Zia-ur-Rehman, 50, and others while the injured included Mutaib, Musaddiq, Saddam, Israr, Afzal, Nazakat, Urooj, Fahad, Iram, Maryam, Zameer, Raheela, Amna, Razzaq, Kashan, Shehzad, Karan, Osama, Naveed, Ayman, Naseem Ahmed, Arusa, Azmi, Naila, Akash, Hana, Abdul Razzaq, Zaira, Rubina, Yaseen, Sameer, Waqas and Sajjad.

According to eyewitnesses, both the buses were overcrowded and they were speeding at a very dangerous bend in Khaira Gali when suddenly one bus fell into a 100-feet deep gorge. Eyewitnesses said that the bus crashed at 9 am and the rescue operation was started much later..

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Assistant Commissioner Murree Waqas Sikandar said that as soon as the accident was reported, an emergency was declared at the Murree Tehsil Headquarters Hospital. He said that Rescue 1122 Murree and Rescue 1122 K-P jointly carried out rescue operations. The rescue teams consisted of five ambulances, one rescue vehicle and more than 20 rescue personnel, he said.

The accident took place in the Khaira Gali area of Abbottabad which is 3-kilometre away from the Barian area of Murree.

The official said that after the injured were shifted to hospitals, an immediate identification process was carried out and families of the victims were informed and lists containing names of the dead and injured were displayed outside hospitals.

He said that b the Murree local administration fully cooperated with the Abbottabad administration and rescue agencies. Every facility is being provided to the injured and their families in the Murree hospital, he said adding that the bodies of the victims had been handed over to the Abbottabad administration which will be handed over to heirs after legal formalities.

He said that the K-P police would initiate action against the bus driver.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24^th, 2022.