Tragedy strikes: 62 dreams burned in coach-truck collision

Bereaved decry lack of facilitation as they arrive in Karachi.

KARACHI:

Five young and jobless friends who wanted to join the police force to support their families were burned alive in the passenger bus that collided with an oil tanker on Saturday night. The accident took place at Kathore Link Road at around midnight when the overloaded Shikarpur-bound passenger bus collided head-on with the oil tanker coming from the opposite direction.

The victims, 22-year-old Tahir, son of Imdad Hussain Katohar, 19-year-old Sajad Ali Katohar, son of Noor Mohammad, 23-year-old Imran Ali Katohar, son of Khadim Hussain, 22-year-old Nizamuddin Katohar, son of Khuda Bux and 27-year-old Jawad Hussain Dharejo, son of Mulazim Hussain, had come to Karachi for the recruitment test in the police department.



As they sat for dinner, they called their families in village Darawahan near Sukkur. "They sounded very excited and were sharing details of the test with their friends and family members," said Farhan Ali, a relative of one of the victims, who was standing outside the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre  (JPMC) mortuary. Little did they know this was the last time they would speak to their loved ones.

"Tahir was the only hope of his aged parents," cried his uncle, Arif. "His parents will die if they look at his body." Family members of around a dozen victims reached the city as soon as they heard about the accident. Most lambasted the provincial government for not making proper arrangements for family members even in this time of distress.

Two other victims, Abdul Haque and Abdul Lateef Soomro, had reached Karachi from Shikarpur early Saturday morning as Soomro had to appear for the recruitment test.

"Abdul Haque was a teacher and came to guide Lateef," said his younger brother, Abul Wahab, who is a police official. "I insisted that they should stay for a few days but they refused," he added. He remembered they had been sitting on seats number 35 and 36 when he dropped them off at the bus stand at Quaidabad.

"Lateef was very young and wanted to join the police force," said his cousin, Shakeel Ahmed informed. "It is an irreversible loss for us."

Saeed Ahmed Baloch, whose cousin, Abdul Haque Baloch, was killed in the accident, said that the bus was already packed when he dropped off his cousin at the bus stand at Quaidabad. The bus waited for more passengers and was far too overloaded by the time it left the bus stop at 10:30pm.

Ikhtiyar, who was lucky to survive the accident, agreed that the bus was completely packed and that he was told to sit on the rooftop, which is what ultimately saved his life. "There was no space on the roof too," he said.

Arrangements for bereaved

By late evening, scores of family members reached the JPMC in search for news of their loved ones. They complained that they were not being facilitated by the authorities. "We have been sitting on the footpath and will probably stay here for whole night," complained Ahmed Ali, a relative of one of the victims. The authorities, however, claimed otherwise. "We have taken all measures to look after the family members," said the Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui.

DNA test

The family members visited the mortuary, but could not identify their loved ones. All the remains of the bodies were moved to the Edhi morgue by Sunday evening.

"It was hard to get samples for the DNA test," said the police surgeon, Dr Jaleel Qadir. He added that a committee comprising senior doctors has been formed to take samples of the family members. "The samples will be sent to Islamabad for DNA tests," he said. "A total of 62 people died in the accident," said JPMC's deputy executive director Dr Seemin Jamali. 


Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2015.