Many passengers were severely injured. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Three people were killed and ten were injured after a public transport vehicle rammed into a tree near Kahuta on Wednesday.
According to the police, the incident took place in Panjar Azad Patan area on Kahuta Road when a speeding Toyota Hiace, bearing registration number RPP-5433, hit a tree, killing three people on the spot, including a three-year-old boy, and injuring 10 others. Police said the vehicle, with 18 passengers on board, was going to Azad Jammu and Kashmir from Rawalpindi when it spiralled out of control and crashed into a tree.
Soon after the incident, Rescue 1122 officials reached the spot and shifted the bodies to District Headquarter Hospital Rawalpindi and the injured to a local hospital. The latter are stated to be in a stable condition.
The deceased, all belonging to AJK, were identified as Wajid Hussain, the vehicle’s driver, Baseer Ahmed and three-year-old Hamza Sajjad.
Kahuta Police Station ASI Ijaz Shah, confirming the number of casualties, said all the passengers were going to their hometowns in AJK. He said the area where the crash occurred is prone to accidents, especially in Ramazan when “drivers are in a rush to get to their destinations before Iftar, putting the lives of passengers at extreme risk”. In July last year, at least eight people were killed and over dozens injured when a bus plunged into a ravine in Panjar area of Kahuta due to speeding.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 18th, 2013.
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