Motorway tragedy: Two children among six dead in bus-truck collision

At least 39 injured, police say bus driver’s negligence caused the incident.

ISLAMABAD:

At least six people including two children were killed and 39 others injured when a passenger bus rear-ended a truck near Islamabad Toll Plaza on Sunday.

The accident took place in the Banjwal area, some six kilometres from the toll plaza, in the limits of Naseerabad Police Station, police said.

The passengers’ bus (LES 8446), which was coming from Bahawalpur, rammed into a 22-wheeler (Z-3530) from behind, police and other sources said. The collision left six passengers dead and 39 others injured. Soon after the accident, police and rescue officials reached the spot and shifted the injured to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) for treatment.



“We suspect the bus driver fell asleep,” a police official told The Express Tribune.

“At around 6:00am, the bus attendant announced we are approaching Islamabad. Soon after the announcement, other passengers also woke up and, in the meantime, the bus suddenly collided with the truck. What happened afterwards, I don’t know,” said Noreen Faiz, who was being treated at PIMS.

“I think our bus driver fell asleep,” said Junaid Ahmed, another injured man at the hospital, who had been travelling in the bus.

Dr Saifur Rehman of Pims confirmed that 39 injured and six bodies had been brought to the hospital.

He said 27 injured were discharged after getting first aid, while 12 were still admitted in the hospital.

According to sources in Pims and the police, the bus attendant and a bus guard were among the dead. Some of the deceased were identified as Abdul Saboor from Murree, bus hostess Nadia, 25, who hailed from Wazirabad, and Tariq Hussain, 50, a resident of Rawalpindi.

The identities of the other three deceased including a nine-year-old girl, a four-year-old child and a 35-year-old woman could not be ascertained.

Some of the injured were identified as Dr Shohib, Irfan Nawaz, Mubashir, Aqeel Khalid, Noreen Faiz, Ahmed and Zainab.

Dr Saif said that the condition of Mubashir and Aqeel was critical.

Bus driver Ahmed Shahzad, whose left leg had been fractured in the accident, claimed that the accident occurred due to the negligence of truck driver. “I repeatedly honked the horn before going past the truck, but the truck driver ignored it. I tried to overtake but all of a sudden, I lost control of the bus, and it collided with the truck,” he said.

Naseerabad Station House Officer (SHO) Chaudhry Jamil said the police have decided to register an FIR against the bus driver and the operator. He said that the company should have engaged two drivers for such a long route to address fatigue issues.

He said the drivers of both vehicles were in their custody.

The death toll is yet to be confirmed as there are conflicting reports. Official spokesman of Rescue 1122 claimed a total of eight people were killed, but the concerned Naseerabad SHO Jamil places it at six.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2013.