Highway collision: Purported oil tanker driver surrenders

The purported driver of the oil tanker which crashed into an inter-city bus on the Kathore link road near Super Highway leaving 62 people dead, surrendered to the police following a “confession” on television. 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. Speaking to a private television channel on Wednesday night, the purported driver of the oil tanker recounted 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. During this, the truck crashed into the bus. The driver said that he was helpless to do anything as the flames engulfed the bus.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2015.