SARGODHA: Four persons, including two minor students and their teacher, were killed and 11 students were injured when a dumper truck hit a school van near Wahi Chak 133 South, tehsil Sillanwali, on Thursday.

The injured were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Sillanwali in critical condition, rescue sources said. The accident occurred due to speeding. The truck driver fled the scene.

The names of the dead as well as the injured persons couldn’t be traced as the district administration concealed the names of the victims for unknown reasons. However, according to the sources, the deceased included a 35-year-old woman schoolteacher, two minor girl students, aged five and eight, and the 55-year-old van driver. The deputy commissioner visited the hospital and directed the staff to give the best treatment to the injured students.

MASS MARRIAGE: A schedule for mass marriages of deserving couples under the Dhi Rani programme of the chief minister has been issued in all four districts of Sargodha division.

In this regard, a review meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sargodha Commissioner Jahanzeb Awan. The meeting was chaired by Social Welfare Director Shakira Noreen who said a schedule has been set for holding the mass marriage in Khushab next week.

The programme would be held in Sargodha on Jan 31, Bhakkar on Feb 13 and Mianwali on Feb 27. She said a total of 273 couples would be married in the mass marriages in four districts. Each couple would be given a dowry by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and the bride would be given a salutation amount of Rs100,000 through ATM.

It was further informed that each couple will be able to attend the ceremony with 20 guests.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2025