KOHAT: Seventeen passengers were killed and two injured when a trailer and a passenger van collided head-on near the old toll plaza of Kohat-Japan Friendship Tunnel on Thursday evening.

The coaster was going to Peshawar from Lakki Marwat while the trailer was coming from the opposite side when they collided with each other.

Three children, as many women and 11 men were killed in the accident, a doctor said.

The emergency officer at KDA Teaching Hospital, Rashid Bokhari, told Dawn that 17 bodies were brought to the hospital after the fatal accident. He said that most of the bodies were beyond recognition.

According to initial reports, the brakes of the trailer failed that led to the head on collision with the coaster, carrying scores of passengers.

The head of Rescue 1122 said that ambulances and teams were sent to the site after receiving report of the accident. The rescue operation was in progress and more casualties could be confirmed from the hospital, he added.

He said that they were shifting the dead and injured to the hospital. He added that the death toll could increase, keeping in view the severity of the collision as the toll plaza building also collapsed and fell on the vehicles.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2023