Purported driver claims he had applied the brakes, but it only caused a tyre to burst. PHOTO: AFP
Police officials said that while they will take the driver, Muhammad Hanif, into custody, his account can only be verified after they complete their investigations.
On Saturday night, as many as 62 people were killed when an oil tanker coming down the wrong side on a one-way link road near Kathore slammed into a passenger bus. Gas cylinders on the bus exploded and set the bus on fire. Trapped due to locked hydraulic doors, the passengers perished.
Speaking to a private television channel on Wednesday night, the purported driver of the oil tanker recounted that he was returning to Karachi after delivering a shipment of oil in Sukkur when he was told to pick up a consignment from Port Qasim.
The purported driver said that he was travelling at no more than 35-40km/hour when he saw the bus. “We cannot drive the truck at more than 40km/hr due to company regulations which monitors our speed. If a driver exceeds this speed limit, they are immediately terminated from their job.”
He said that he applied the brakes, but that only caused an inflated truck tyre to burst. This caused the truck’s cabin to tilt to one side. During this, the truck crashed into the bus.
Soon after the crash, Hanif said that the bus quickly filled up with smoke or some sort of gas which clouded his vision of what was going on inside.
Just a few minutes after, Hanif said, the bus burst into flames.
The driver said that he was helpless to do anything as the flames engulfed the bus. He added that the bus doors were locked, making it hard to rescue anyone from inside. However, those sitting atop the bus and the tanker were saved and that he managed to pull his helper to safety.
The driver added that he lingered at the crash site for nearly 10 minutes before fleeing. Asked why didn’t help those trapped, he said that there was little that he could do apart from watching as the bus caught fire. More importantly, he said he feared being lynched by any crowd that gathered.
Asked about how his oil tanker caught fire, he offered that the flames from the bus and the impact of the crash may have ignited the diesel in the truck's fuel tank.
On why was he surrendering, Hanif said that he felt guilty and ashamed and that he had been nagged by his family into surrendering.
Police to investigate claims
SP Investigation Malik Altaf, who was asked to arrest Hanif, said that they will arrest Hanif as a suspect and investigate whether he had anything to do with the crash.
He later added that Hanif was the driver but police will still complete their investigations.
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at least he had some moral courage ! God bless the departed souls..
A sad day it was and my condolences goes to families of those who lost their life. This is the first time I am seeing a person come out and surrender after a major accident. Kudos to him for this and giving all details. I hope all he gives if truth and all he gets is justice for this act. I wish our politicians and leaders were this accountable
Until and unless Government of Pakistan will not ask the vehicle drivers and roads are not made on international safety standards, such accidents may continue to occur and innocent people will keep on perishing.
If he is the driver of the truck then he is a brave man to have surrendered. What justice holds for him is another matter, but he has earned my respect for honoring the dead.
CNG tanks in commercial transport vehicles should be standardized to be absolutely safe or not allowed at all.