LAKKI MARWAT: Nine people lost their lives and a dozen sustained injuries in a tragic road accident in Karak district on Saturday.

Police and Rescue 1122 officials said that a trailer fell over a passenger coach when its driver lost control of the vehicle due to brake failure near Amberi Kallay area. They said that the container also damaged other vehicles parked there.

Rescue officials said that eight persons died on the spot, while 13 others were injured, who were provided first aid by the rescuers and later shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital, Karak. They said eight rescue service’s ambulances and recovery vehicles took part in the relief efforts after the accident.

The officials said the mishap occurred on the busy Peshawar-Karachi Highway in the limits of Yaqoob Khan Shaheed police station.

CM, governor condole deaths, order best possible care for injured

A police official said that a contingent along with the traffic wardens reached the venue immediately and launched a rescue operation. He said that the injured persons were retrieved from the coach and other vehicles and shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital.

The police official said eight injured, including a minor girl, succumbed at the hospital.

A rescue official, however, said that nine people perished in the accident.

The deceased were identified as Mohammad Ishaq, 59, a resident of Karak, Awam Khan, 45, resident of Titterkhel area of Lakki Marwat, Asma, 24, resident of Mashikhel, Naila, 3, Qaisar Khan, 30, Sharafat Ali and Salim Khan, 65, residents of Titterkhel, and Qadir, 56, a resident of Kiri Dhand. One of the deceased persons could not be identified immediately.

The injured included Ejaz, 39, resident of Takht Nusrati Karak, Samiullah, 41, resident of Lakki Marwat, Mir Shahbaz Shah Zaman, 45, resident of Sirajkhel, Kashif, 33, resident of Gardi Banda, Mohammad Latif, 50, resident of Mosakan, Hanifullah, 49, resident of Algadi Karak, Ali Abbas, 50, resident of Chokara Karak, Aleema, 4, Zainab Bibi, 30, and Khadija, 2, residents of Tangazay, Aqib, 24, resident of Titterkhel, and Allah Bakhsh, 71, resident of Taunsa Sharif (Punjab).

The police official said that they had arrested the trailer driver, Samiullah, a resident of Lakki Marwat, in injured condition and shifted him to the hospital.

He said that the highway had been cleared for vehicular traffic.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur expressed his sorrow over the deaths of nine people in the traffic accident. The statement said that the chief minister also extended his sympathies to the families of those who lost their lives and those who were injured.

Mr Gandapur directed the health authorities to provide the best possible medical facilities to those who were injured in the traffic accident.

Another statement said KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi took notice of the traffic mishap and directed the relevant authorities to furnish details about it.

He also directed the health authorities to provide all possible assistance to the injured during their treatment. He also directed the Pakistan Red Crescent Society to carry out relief activities and asked the party workers to donate blood for the victims of traffic mishap.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2025