Road accident: Bus damaged in protest over cyclist’s death

14 injured in van-truck collision in Sargodha, five in critical condition.

MULTAN/SARGODHA:

A passenger bus was damaged in a protest demonstration on Friday over the death of a man crushed by the bus on Nawabpur Road earlier in the day.

Protesters including relatives of deceased Mushtaq Ahmed, an employee of Nishtar Hospital, placed his body on the road, halting traffic for several hours. They also tried to set fire to the bus but were prevented by a police team that reached the scene about two hours after the accident.

The protest ended after DSP Maqbool Jutt of Gulghast police station assured the family that a team would be formed to arrest the bus driver, identified as Zafar, who had fled following the accident.

14 injured

About 14 people were injured as a speeding van crashed into a Mazda truck parked on roadside on Bhalwal-Kot Momin Road on Friday.  The injured were taken to a nearby rural health centre.

Doctors at the RHC stated that Allah Rakhi, Zubaida Bibi, Mubarak Ali, Muhammad Ashraf and Nisar Ahmed’s condition as serious and referred them to the Civil Hospital, Sargodha.

Police later seized the van. The driver had fled before the police’s arrival.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2012.