Hundreds gather for funeral of schoolchildren in Nawabshah

Schools and businesses remain closed as the town grieves over the loss of young lives.

NAWABSHAH: The Daulatpur tehsil of Nawabshah remains gripped with sorrow as families  mourn the deaths of victims of a tragic accident. 

Schoolchildren, most of them between the ages of 10 and 16, were returning to Daulatpur from a naat and quiz competition when the van they were in collided with a truck on January 15.

Twenty-two people, including 19 children, died while at least 13 others sustained injuries in the road accident.

At least 10 of the dead children reportedly belonged to the Khanzada community of Daulatpur.

The funeral of the victims was offered today and was attended by hundreds of people.

Many schools and businesses remained closed as the town grieved over the loss of young lives. Grown men were seen weeping as they were coming to terms with the deaths of their beloved.

Various political and social figures also attended the funeral.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Sindh Assembly members Rashid Khilji and Dilawar Qureshi, and zonal in-charge Asim Kabir were in attendance at the funeral.

The accident

The van carrying schoolchildren was first hit by a dumper truck and then immediately by a cruising passenger van at a perilous curve on a bridge on Rohri Canal on Nawabshah-Qazi Ahmed Road.

The students belonged to Bright Future School.

According to Peoples Medical College (PMC) hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Hashim Langha, the deceased children, 10 girls and 9 boys, were all aged between 10 and 16.

Never before had the doctors and nurses at PMC hospital seen 19 dead children.