BAHAWALPUR: Seven people, including two women, were killed while three persons suffered serious injuries when a trailer hit a loader rickshaw in front of Shahida Islam Medical College (SIMC) on the Bahawalpur-Multan highway near Lodhran on Thursday.

According to Muhammad Safdar, the media coordinator of Rescue 1122 in Lodhran, the trailer coming from Multan hit a loader rickshaw from its rear. The deceased and injured were going from a village near Lodhran to Bahawalpur to attend a wedding when they had the accident.

Six persons, namely Salman (14), Sanaur Rehman (10), Sabiran Bibi (24), Kamran (10), Abid(25) and Sajida (4), were killed on the spot while Allah Ditta (36), presumed to be driver of the loader rickshaw, succumbed to his injuries at the District Headquarters Hospital Lodhran.

Three injured were identified as Noor Fatimah (8), Chand (45) and Sakina (45). Two of them were shifted to the DHQ Hospital Lodhran while the minor, Noor Fatimah, was shifted to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) in Bahawalpur in critical condition.

According to reports, the rickshaw driver allegedly attempted to overtake the trailer from the wrong side and it got hit by the trailer just as it came in front of it.

The Lodhran Saddar police arrested the trailer driver.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2023