LAHORE, Oct 25: A female worker of a textile mills was killed and 14 others, including three men, suffered injuries when a crane coming from wrong direction collided with a bus on Bedian Road on Saturday morning.

A Rescue 1122 official said three unidentified passengers also died on the spot, but his claim was rejected by the mills administration and Burki police.

A bus of Nishat Apparel (Pvt) Ltd, situated 22km Ferozpur Road, was bringing at least 22 workers, majority of them women, to the unit when a crane of a private company of Zafar coming from the opposite side hit it with a big bang. The collision left 15 passengers injured.

Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot and shifted the victims to Lahore General Hospital where Salma, 21, of Salamatpura succumbed to her injuries.

The injured were identified as Mehwish, Yasmeen, Samreen, Ashi, Shazia, Fatima, Reema, Hifza, Bano, Shomaila, Fauzia, Zakaria, Ashfaq and Muhammad Ali.

A mills employee told Dawn that the bus was coming from Shalimar Town via Bedian Road to the unit. He said at least four workers were stated to be in a critical condition and had been shifted to LGH’s neurology surgical ward.

The Burki SHO said the police investigation revealed that crane driver Ahsanullah, who violated line and lane, hit the bus.

He said: “The poorly trained driver, instead of applying brakes, opened lifter of the crane which hit the bus from a side.” He said the accused had been taken into custody.

In the second incident, an elderly man was killed while two others injured when a speeding truck hit their car near Saggian Chowk.

An Edhi official said a car suddenly appeared in front of a truck as a result of which the truck driver applied emergency brakes and his vehicle turned on the car.

Three car riders sustained injures and were taken to Mayo Hospital.

Islampura police said one of them identified as Saleem, 70, succumbed to his injuries in the hospital.

Police have arrested the driver and impounded the truck.

In another incident, Nasir Bhatti, 22, of Kamoki, was crossing a road near Lorry Adda when a coaster hit and killed him.

The driver managed his escape.

Lorry Adda police shifted the body to the city morgue.

At least four people sustained injuries in a rickshaw-motorcycle collision near Naseerabad Bus Stop on Ferozpur Road.

The injured were admitted to Lahore General Hospital.