Bus crushes 3 of a family, child

Nine injured as passenger vehicle rams into wall after veering off road

KAHROR PAKKA:

Three members of a family riding a motorcycle and a child bicyclist were crushed to death by a bus on Saturday.

The bus going from Bahawalpur to Lahore rammed into a wall after veering off the road into fields as the driver tried in vain to avoid hitting the motorbike near Basti Kamalaywala.

All the four victims died at the spot, while nine passengers of the bus, including women, suffered injuries.

Rescue personnel shifted the injured to the Tehsil headquarters hospital after providing them first aid.

Motorcyclists Umair, Khadija Mai and Maimoona Bibi, and child Muhammad Taha, who was riding the bicycle, died in the accident. The family members riding the motorcycle residents of Mari Bhago Khan near the site of the accident.

The injured included bus conductor Muhammad Mansha, Bashir Ahmed, Hamza, Aamir, Sajjad and Kubra. Mansha was referred to the Victoria Hospital in Bahawalpur from the local THQ hospital due to his deteriorating condition.

Before the rescue team arrived, the body of the child had been taken home by his relatives.

The rescue workers also shifted the three bodies to the THQ hospital.

Kahror Pakka city police took the bus driver into custody and started legal proceedings against him.

Meanwhile, at least 10 people died and 1,191 were injured in 1,154 road traffic crashes across Punjab during the past 24 hours.

Of the injured, 659 people were shifted to hospitals, whereas 532 were treated for minor injuries at the sites of the accidents.

As many as 71 per cent of the road accidents involved motorbikes.

As per official data, 585 adult and 44 underage drivers, 145 pedestrians and 471 passengers were among the victims of the traffic crashes.

The statistics showed that 284 accidents were reported in Lahore, which affected 297 people, followed by 83 in Faisalabad with 101 victims and 74 in Gujranwala with 69 victims. Of the deceased and injured, 954 were male and 247 female, while 208 of them were under 18 years of age, 624 aged between 18 and 40 years and 369 above 40 years of age.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2023.