13 dead as loaded truck rolls onto passengers coach

Thirteen people including women and children died while five others sustained injuries when a truck loaded with sugar and wheat bags overturned on a passenger coach in Feroza town of Rahim Yar Khan on Saturday.

According to details, the mishap occurred on a road which had developed potholes and had been damaged for long time.

The accident happened when the truck coming from the opposite side lost its balance on the dilapidated road and fell onto the coach, which had been stuck in a rainwater-filled deep ditch.

Witnesses said that heavy machinery was employed to extricate the wreckage of the coach from under the truck.

Rescue 1122 officials maintained that 18 people had been travelling in the bus. They said 13 bodies and five injured had been shifted to the Rural Health Centre in Feroza.

Expressing regret over the loss of lives, Deputy Commissioner Syed Moosa Raza directed the authorities concerned to ensure provision of best medical facilities to the injured.

The deputy commissioner declared emergency in the hospitals in Khanpura, Feroza and Liaquatpur areas.

Meanwhile, angry residents of the area pelted stones on the vehicle of Liaquatpur assistant commissioner who reached the accident site. They complained that a stretch of road in Feroza where the accident happened had been damaged due to sewerage for the past several years but the authorities paid no heed towards it.

They said accidents had become a matter of routine in the area and held the public health and highways department and the members of assembly responsible for the unfortunate incident.

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi expressed grief over the accident and offered condolence to the bereaved families of the victims.

The occurrence of accidents in Rahim Yar Khan is common due to dilapidated roads and open manholes.

In June, a man and his two minor children died while another was injured when his motorcycle fell into an open manhole on the Thali Mahatma Road near the Government Technical Training Institute.

According to Rescue 1122, Kaleemullah was going home along with his three children on a motorcycle. When he reached near the Sui Gas Chowk, his motorcycle fell into an open manhole. As a result of the accident, two minors died on the spot while the third one sustained injuries.