Road safety: 10 die, 29 injured in two accidents in DG Khan

A passenger said that the driver of his bus was racing with another bus on.

MULTAN:

Ten people were killed and 29 injured on Friday in two road accidents in Dera Ghazi Khan. The injured were taken to district headquarters hospital, from where six in critical condition were sent to Nishtar Hospital in Multan.

In the first accident, rescue officials said that an oil tanker that tried to overtake another oil tanker from the wrong side on the National Highway rammed into a mini-bus. The collision resulted in on-the-spot death of five labourers in the mini-bus. Eight others, including the oil tanker driver, were injured and taken to the hospital, where three of them later succumbed to their injuries. Two were later referred to Nishtar Hospital in Multan and are said to be in critical condition.



Rescue officials said that the oil tanker was heading to Rajanpur, while the wagon was carrying labourers from Kot Chatta to Dera Ghazi Khan.

Kot Chatta police said they had arrested both the drivers, identified as Muhammad Asghar and Anwaarul Haq.

An FIR was registered on the compliant of ASI Irshad Hussain. He said that initial investigations revealed that the accident had apparently occurred due to the tanker drivers’ negligence.

Also on Friday, two passenger buses ran into one other, killing two passengers on the spot. At least 24 others were injured. The bus was on its way to Peshawar from Karachi when it met the accident near Bohar area in Taunsa sub district. The other bus was heading to Rawalpindi from Taunsa.

Rescue officials said that 24 injured were pulled out from both buses after cutting the vehicles’ body.  They were taken to Dera Ghazi Khan DHQ hospital, where doctors treating them said that 12 of them were in critical condition. Two of them were later referred to Nishtar Hospital in Multan.

Taunsa police registered an FIR against the driver of the Peshawar-bound bus driver on the complaint of Ziaur Rehman, a passenger who lost his cousin Bashir in the accident. He alleged that the driver was speeding. He said some passengers asked him to slow down several times, but he was racing with another bus.

One of the drivers, identified as Muhammad Asad, remained unharmed in the accident and had been arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.