KOHAT: Driver of a dumper truck was burnt to death as the vehicle caught fire after colliding with an oil tanker on Rawalpindi Road here on Monday.

Long queues of vehicles were witnessed on both sides of the busy highway as the tanker went up in flames right in the middle of it, police said. The accident occurred at around 3pm and the blaze continued till 6pm.

The tanker was carrying crude oil from Karak oilfields and when it reached Ghorazai area of Gumbat its brakes failed. As a result, the driver lost control and it collided with a dumper coming from the opposite side and turned upside down. It immediately caught fire which also engulfed the dumper.

The victim could not be identified as his body was charred beyond recognition. A fire brigade vehicle reached the scene after much delay and struggled to douse the flames. Officials said the fire died down after all the oil was burnt.

Later, the dumper and the tanker were removed from the road with the help of tractors and the highway was reopened to traffic.

HIGH RATES OF FOOD ITEMS: The local residents have demanded of the district administration to keep a check on increasing prices of food items in the markets.

Talking to Dawn on Monday they said unless the profiteers were sent behind bars, mere raids on the marketplace would not address the issue of price hike. They complained there had been no tomatoes available in the market for the fifth consecutive day.

They pointed out that the magistrates whose number had been increased from one to three for keeping check on prices of food items, including meat, had also proved futile.

Though magistrate Abbas Afridi checked rates in the vegetable market the other day, especially that of onion and tomatoes, and fined the profiteers, the prices remained unchanged. The residents pointed out that before every raid media was invited to cover the action, which was only a popularity stunt. A vegetable seller said high price of tomato was because of huge gap between demand and supply.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2017