BAHAWALPUR: Two persons, including a railway employee, were killed, and 14 others were injured in two separate smog-related incidents in Bahawalpur and Lodhran.

In the first incident, a bus en route to Karachi collided with an overturned truck near the Qutabpur toll plaza on the Bahawalpur-Khanewal highway.

The accident, which occurred in thick smog conditions, killed bus driver Liaquat Ali, 36, and left 14 passengers seriously injured. The injured included Abu Bakr, Furqan, Gul Zaman, Ali Zaman, Arsalan Khan, Dua Bibi, Ayesha Bibi, Shabana, Gul Bibi, Ijazul Haq, Fazal Wahid, Hassan Bari Bibi and Waryam.

The truck, loaded with stones, had overturned due to an axle failure, blocking the road.

Rescue services used machines to free three trapped passengers from the bus wreckage. The injured were shifted to Dunyapur THQ Hospital.

Local police are investigating the incident.

In a separate incident, a railway worker identified as Dilshad, 40, was struck by a train near Mubarakpur railway station on the Karachi-Lahore track. Due to poor visibility caused by heavy smog, he failed to see the approaching Awam Express.

Emergency responders handed over the body to his family.

Rescue officials also reported saving two persons from a car that veered into a canal due to poor visibility.

PETITION: The Lahore High Court Bahawalpur bench will hear a petition on Nov 12 challenging the Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment’s posting of junior officials as directors.

Petitioner Ghulam Rasool claims that appointing junior officers to grade-19 director positions is a violation of the law and should be reviewed.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2024