Bahawalpur accident: Families of victims want action against Transport Department

Funerals of 23 victims held, some criticise govt for not giving compensation.

BAHAWALPUR:

The funerals of 23 people who died when a passenger van collided with a truck near a bypass in Bahawalpur on Tuesday were held on Wednesday.

Haji Ramazan, a resident of Mubarikpur, told The Express Tribune that four of his family members had lost their lives in the crash. Speaking at their funeral, Ramazan said the government should take action against employees of the Regional Transport Authority for taking bribes and allowing vehicles to be overloaded. “Who is responsible if a vehicle with a capacity of 15 passengers is carrying 30 passengers?,” he asked.

Jan Muhammad, a milk seller in Mubarikpur, said his sister and her two children had died in the accident. He said the chief minister was yet to take action on the incident.

Muhammad Irfan, a soft drink dealer in Khangah Sharif, who was attending a funeral, said no one from the government had visited the families affected by the crash. “The families of the deceased have been offered no compensation,” he said.

He said this was one of the biggest accident in the history of Bahawalpur.

Prisons Minister Malik Iqbal Channar visited the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) on Wednesday to visit the eight people admitted to the hospital.

Emergency Incharge Dr Muhammad Aziz said five of those admitted had been critical but they were on the road to recovery now.

List of deceased

According to a list issued by Bahawalpur DPO Muhammad Imran’s PRO the victims have been identified as Zahoora Bibi, Zehra Bibi, Tahira Bibi, Imran Ali, Tauheed Kausar, Mubeen Ahmed, Pathani Mai, Muhammad Saleem, Nasir Hanif, Muhammad Jamil,. Haseena Mai, Zehra, Muhammad Ikram, Rao Sajid, Iqbal, Muhammad Rafiq, Naveed Iqbal, Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Ajmal and Kiran Bibi from Mubarikpur, Rizwana from Kot Lal, Ata Elahi from Yazman, wagon driver Muhammad Imran from Yazman and truck driver Durr Muhammad from Dera Murad Jamali in Quetta. The body of Durr Muhammad is yet to be claimed by his family.

The FIR has been registered against the two deceased drivers.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1^st, 2012.