MIANWALI: At least 13 people lost their lives and more than 20 others suffered injuries in a collision between a trailer and a bus near Harnoli Mor on Wednesday.

The bus with over 50 passengers on board was going to Rawalpindi from Layyah when in a bid to overtake a vehicle it rammed into a trailer coming from the opposite direction on Mianwali-Muzaffargarh road, about 35km from here.

Officials said that 13 occupants of the bus, including the driver and conductor, were killed and more than 20 others injured. The bus was reduced to a heap of mangled metal.

Police took the injured to health facilities in Piplan and Hafizwala before shifting them to the District Headquarters Hospital in Mianwali, where 11 of them were admitted and the rest discharged after first-aid.

Four of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

Traffic was restored when police removed the damaged vehicles from the road after hours-long effort.

The deceased included Qasim, Zulfiqar, Mohammad Hassan, Mahmood Ali Raj­poot, Mohammad Khalid, Mohammad Jamshaid (conductor), Imam Bakhsh, Mohammad Ramzan, Hakim Khan and Shazia Bibi.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the loss of lives and directed the local administration to ensure that the injured were provided best healthcare.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2016