17 killed in bus-truck collision near Quetta

QUETTA: At least 17 people were killed and 35 injured on Thursday in a bloody collision between a passenger bus and a loaded truck in Yak Mach area between Nokkundi and Dalbandin, about 400-kilometres from Quetta.

A Quetta-bound passenger coach carrying more than 50 people was on its way from Taftan, a town bordering Iran, when it collided with a truck loaded with marbles. Seventeen people died on the spot.

The injured were trapped in the coach for several hours before they could be safely pulled from the wreckage.

The coach was completely destroyed in the accident.

The bodies and the injured people were taken to Shiekh Zayed Hospital, but some of the victims were later rushed to Quetta for better treatment.

Only one doctor was on duty in Shiekh Zayed Hospital when the injured were brought in for first aid.

A large number of local people also turned up at the hospital to tend to the injured.

Sheikh Zyed Hospital is fitted with modern equipment but because of a lack of staff the equipment is mostly unused. The Provincial Health Directorate has taken very little interest in making the hospital fully functional.

Officials said that most of the accident victims were pilgrims returning from Iran.

The dead were identified as Zafar, Abdul Khaliq, Awaran, Syedal, Sakhidad, Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rahim, Mohammad Hussain, Mohammad Jan, Akhtar Raza, Mohammad Yousaf, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Akram, Bor Mohammad, Mohammad Haider, Mohammad Amin , Anyatullah.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2010.