TOBA TEK SINGH: Seven people were killed and 19 others injured when a passenger van and a mini truck caught fire after a head-on collision near Chak 278-JB (Dharamkot) on the Gojra-Faisalabad Road on Wednesday.

The fire was apparently caused after an LPG cylinder exploded in the van.

According to Rescue 1122, the Faisalabad-bound van was on its way while the mini truck was coming from the opposite direction.

Reports said out of seven, four passengers of the van and the truck driver, were burnt alive while two succumbed to their burns later.

Two of them were identified as Muhammad Akram and Ghulam Dastagir of Chak 46-GB located on Gojra-Samundri Road. Six of the injured were given first aid at Gojra THQ Hospital while out of 13 critically wounded, seven were referred to the Allied Hospital, Faisalabad. They were identified as Muhammad Afzal, Ghulam Sabir, Suleman Mustafa, Babra Yasmin, Basharat Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad and Shahzad Ali.

Sources said obsolete and worn-out cylinders are being used without getting fitness certificates from the officials concerned by the owners of passenger vans.

A district police spokesperson, however, claimed that a crackdown was already under way against vans using substandard cylinders. He said on the same road, Nawan Lahore police had impounded a van on Tuesday for having a substandard cylinder and its driver was sent behind bars after registering a case against him.

Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has expressed grief over the accident and directed Faisalabad Regional Police Officer Dr Muhammad Abid to submit a report on the incident.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2023