BAHAWALPUR: Five labourers working on a concrete mixer were burnt alive, while ten others suffered serious burns after a collision between a bus and a truck on Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar (KLP) highway near Sharifabad in the city suburbs.

According to Rescue 1122 officials, the collision occurred when the bus driver attempted to avoid a concrete mixer parked along the road for construction purpose, leaving the truck in flames.

The burning truck then hit the concrete mixer, and five labourers working on it were burnt alive as a result, the officials said, adding that 10 other persons suffered critical burns in the incident.

On being informed of the incident, a Rescue 1122 team reached the scene, extinguished the fire and retrieved the labourers bodies after removing the burnt truck.

They added that the bodies were badly burnt and could not be identified. According to District Emergency Officer (DEO) Baqir Hussain, efforts were on to identify the bodies, which were moved to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital, along with the injured persons.

He said the condition of some of the injured persons was said to be critical.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2023