NAWABSHAH, July 30: Seven people were killed and more than 20 were injured when a passenger bus bound for Bannu collided with a van on the Nawabshah-Qazi Ahmed link road on Tuesday.

Police said the bus (JB-7373) was travelling from Karachi to Bannu when it hit the van (R-2563), killing seven people on the spot. The drivers of both vehicles fled after the accident.

Those killed in the accident were identified as Fareed Rahu, Saiqa Rahu, 8, Nawaz Ali Shah, Himmat Ali Chandio, Moulvi Hanif Qureshi, Hakim and Zahid Sethar.

The injured included Shamsuddin Dero, Raheemullah, Asmatullah, Mehar Jan, Irfan Shah, Fahad Shah, Samina, Ashiq, Hakeem Gul, Shabiran, Ghulam Shabbir, Umeed Ali, Mohammed Arshad, Qasim Mallah, Hassan Ali, Mondar Khan and Mehar Jan.

All the injured were taken to the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences, where five of them were stated to be in a critical condition.

A state of emergency was declared at the hospital and all doctors were called to work. A large number of people gathered at the hospital to donate blood.

The SHO of the Taluka police station was suspended for his negligence of duty and the traffic inspector in-charge, Mureed Hyder Jalbani, for absence of traffic police from the sensitive spot.