DADU: Three persons were burnt to death and 11 others also sustained burns when an oil tanker skidded and overturned before catching fire near Nooriabad on Superhi­ghway in the early hours of Saturday. One police mobile van, three motorcycles and two Suzuki vehicles moving very close to the tanker also caught fire and sustained extensive damage.

According to Nooriabad SHO Ghulam Mustafa Aqilani, the tanker carrying 22,000 litres of oil was on its way to Hyderabad from Karachi when it met with the accident at a diversion near the Dadabhoy Cement Factory. As soon as the tanker overturned, a fire broke out and engulfed it and several other vehicles moving close to it within a few moments, he added.

He said that ASI Rakhial Mallah, police mobile driver Mumtaz Lodho, Mashooq Ali Khaskheli, Ahmed Ali Rajput, Amjad Aliand Hidyatullah were rushed to the Hyderabad Civil Hospital where they were admitted for treatment of burns. Five seriously injured persons were transported to Civil Hospital Karachi, he said, adding that charred remains of one person were also collected from the scene of the accident.

Hospital and Edhi Foundation sources said that two of the 13 persons taken to different hospitals succumbed to their wounds but could not be identified. A third victim, whose remains were found near the burning tanker, also remained unidentified till late on Saturday evening, they said.

Residents of Jeo Palari and Jiando Lashari village, situated near the accident site, told the Nooriabad police that a woman, Khuda Dini, and her nine-year-old son, Feroz Manzoor, were unaccounted for. They claimed that the missing persons were last seen near the burning vehicles.

The police said they were searching for the missing persons. They said the tanker driver, whose name was kept secret, had fled the scene soon after the accident but was later arrested near the Kathore Pul area.

Published in Dawn December 18th, 2016