CM orders probe into six lives lost in crash

Asks Hazara admin to hold those responsible to account

ABBOTTABAD:

Caretaker Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Justice (retd) Arshad Hussain Shah ordered an inquiry on Tuesday to investigate the road accident on Hazara Motorway, where six people lost their lives and ten others sustained injuries.

According to an official statement, the caretaker K-P chief minister, upon taking notice of the road accident, directed the Hazara division commissioner to conduct an inquiry in collaboration with the National Highways Authority (NHA) to investigate the accident and determine responsibilities against those who would be found negligent.

Strict actions will be taken against those found involved in the incident, he said.

Six persons were killed and 10 others injured when a passenger bus rammed into a van near the Chechiyan Interchange on the Hazara Motorway on Sunday, the police said.

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Parking of an asphalt-laying machine by the construction company on the motorway caused the accident, the police and injured passengers said.

A police official quoted the eyewitnesses as saying that a Rawalpindi-bound van coming from the  Abbottabad side rammed into the asphalt-laying machine parked on the side of the motorway.

He added the moment the van crashed against the stationary vehicle, a Lahore-bound passenger bus coming from Mansehra struck the van.

He said six passengers died on the spot and 10 sustained extremely critical injuries.

The rescue workers retrieved the bodies and the injured by cutting the mettle of the Rawalpindi-bound van.

The deceased included Sultan, Faisal, Shakil, Abdul Qayum, Zahoor Gul and Shehla Bibi. The injured were identified as Ali Raza, Abdullah, Hasnain, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Imdad, Arifa Bibi, Samiullah, Usman, Luqman and Alam Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2024.