28 perish in deadly day on roads
PHOTO: EXPRESS/FILE
At least 28 people died and 1,376 were injured in over 1,300 road accidents across Punjab on Thursday.
In the most deadly road crash, five teenage friends were killed when their speeding car rammed into a house after colliding with a bullock cart in Vehari. Another occupant of the car was severely injured in the accident an referred to the Nishtar Hospital in Multan in a critical condition.
The accident was so severe that the body of the car had to be cut to remove the bodies and the injured.
According to local residents, Ahmed Lakhvira of Ladan was returning home in Ladan after cutting his birthday cake in Vehari along with his friends when his car went out of control due to high speed, collided with a bullock cart and rammed into a house built on the roadside near Khadar canal. The cart was loaded with wood.
According to rescue sources, Ahmed Lakhvira and Zohaib died on the spot, while Saqlain, Mehran and Masroor died of their injuries in hospital. Shehryar was referred to Nishtar Hospital.
The death of five teenage friends left the entire city in mourning. A number of local officials and political leaders expressed grief over the incident. A local resident said the accident had taken place at around 3am but the owner of the cart carrying wood had not affixed reflectors, because of which the driver of the speeding car might have noticed it too late.
The car went off the road after hitting the cart and crashed into the wall of the house.
Central Traders Association chairman Sajid Masood said the authorities should ensure that all vehicles coming onto the main roads at night had lights and reflectors.
In an accident in Bhakkar, three people died and 24 others suffered injuries in a head-on collision between two trucks near Pannuwala on Jhang Road.
The trucks were carrying labourers going to Lakki Marwat from Shorkot and to Hyderabad from Bhakkar to.celebrate Eid.
Five of the injured were said to be in a precarious condition and an emergency was declared at the district headquarters hospital.
Hospital officials said one of the victims had died on the spot and two others during treatment.
Meanwhile, a police constable and two other people died five others were injured in traffic accidents in Faisalabad.
Police officials said Constable Hafiz Zulqarnain Anjum of the Special Protection Unit was taking his father, Muhammad Deen, on his motorcycle for physiotherapy when a tractor-trolley hit them at a turn on Samundri Road. Anjum and his father were shifted to hospital where the policeman died.
Police said they were searching for the tractor driver. According to Roshanwala police, the late constable had been undergoing training in Sihala.
A motorcycle rider, Safdar Hussain, was killed reportedly by a speeding car on Kashmir Bridge, while 17-year-old Waqas, who had been hit by a car, died at a hospital.
According to the rescue service data, 772 injured people were shifted to hospitals and 604 with minor injuries treated at the accident sites by medical teams across the province during the past 24 hours. As many as 70 per cent of the accidents involved motorbikes.
Those affected by the road crashes included 670 adult and drivers 39 underage drivers, 169 pedestrians and 565 passengers.
The statistics showed that 288 traffic crashes were reported in Lahore with 294 victims, followed by Faisalabad with 85 accidents and 98 victims and Gujranwala with 78 crashes and 75 victims. The total 1,376 victims included 1,162 males and 242 females, of whom 257 were under 18 years of age, 759 aged between 18 and 40 years, and 388 above 40 years.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 21st, 2023.