THATTA: Seven people were killed and 15 others injured, most of them critically, in a head-on collision between a passenger van and a truck near Jherruk town along National Highway on Thursday.

Area police and onlookers said that the rashly driven van overturned while the driver was trying to avoid the collision at Bismillah intersection. Nearly all people on board were injured as the driver failed in his attempt and the van plunged into a roadside ditch.

A large number of people gathered there and started relief and rescue work.

They retrieved the bodies and injured persons and transported them to the Makli hospital.

The rescuers said that no one responded to the repeated frantic calls made to the area police station and government health facility in Jherruk.

Six of the deceased victims were later identified as van driver Ghulam Hussain Memon, 33 (a resident of Kotri), Zulfiqar Ali Rajpar, 55 (a resident of Hyderabad said to be posted as manager in a bank branch in Makli), Nadir Ali Brohi, 25 (a resident of Shahdadkot), Mukhtiar Ali ,56 (a resident of Sonda village), Mohammad Ali,17 (a resident of Lodhran) and Hajra Salman Rahujo, 20.

The deceased child could not be identified till late in the evening.

The injured victims were admitted to the Makli Hospital and Hyderabad Civil Hospital. They included Ms Noorjehan, Ghulam Mustafa Junejo, Aziza Ibrahim, Sabar Ali, Abdul Sattar Khoso, Shoban, Raheela Bhutto, Qurban Ali, Sikandar Mallah and Karim Bukhsh.

The truck driver managed to escape after the accident, according to the police.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023