Low visibility: Five die in accidents blamed on heavy fog

Several flights suspended, train service affected.

BAHAWALPUR/ MULTAN:

Five people died and 128 were injured in road accidents in several cities blamed on heavy fog that started on Monday night.

Fog covered many cities late on Sunday. The visibility in some of southern Punjab districts was as low as five metres by 7am on Tuesday. The visibility had become normal by 2pm on major national highways.

A man died and 16 others were injured after a bus hit a truck in Shahwali area of Rajanpur.

Four more people died in road accidents in Bahawalnagar, Sahiwal, Chichawatni and Bhakkar.

Accidents were also reported in Okara, Pakpattan, Multan, Khanewal, Lodhran, Vehari, Dera Ghazi Khan, Layyah, Mianwali, Muzaffargarh and Bahawalpur.

A MET Department official told The Express Tribune the current fog would continue until Friday.



He said there were chances of rain on Friday.

Minimum temperature in some rural areas of southern Punjab was 3 degree Celsius on Tuesday.

The Motorway and Highway Police declared an emergency on the National Highway. It has also cancelled leave of patrolling staff. The distance between various beats on the motorway has also been reduced to improve delivery service.

According to the Multan Electric Power Company, several power transformers had tripped on Monday and Tuesday due to the fog.

This resulted in unscheduled load shedding in some areas.

Fog lights

Bahawalpur Traffic SP Jamal Abdul Nasir on Tuesday directed police officials to take action against those driving at night without fog lights. He also ordered action against overcharging by transporters.

Nasir said the number of accidents tended to ride in foggy conditions. He ordered deployment of police officials at bus stands to ensure that no public bus left the city without fog lights. “This will help reduce the number of road accidents,” he said.

The SP ordered traffic wardens to pay surprise visits to bus stands to check overcharging by transporters.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2014.