RAHIM YAR KHAN: Eight passengers were killed and 22 others injured when a bus collided with a mini-truck near the Iqbalabad Interchange on the Sukkur-Multan Motorway (M-5) early on Wednesday morning.

According to Rescue 1122, a bus was en route from Karachi to Pakpattan. The bus driver reportedly lost control due to drowsiness at 4:40am near beat 27, location 547 between Guddu and Iqbalabad Interchange.

The vehicle rammed into the rear of a mini-truck carrying mango crates and skidded the motorway. Four passengers died on the spot.

Eleven critically injured were shifted to Shaikh Zayed Medical College Hospital, where four more succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to eight.

FIRE: A school van caught fire outside a private school in Sadiqabad on Wednesday morning due to a short circuit.

Reports said the van, fitted with an LPG cylinder, caught fire outside Iqra School and College on Tilluo Road. By the time Rescue 1122 firefighters reached the scene, the van was engulfed in flames, with no driver or students present. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes.

A preliminary assessment found that the fire originated in the front cabin due to a short circuit.

DC Khurram Pervez has ordered an inquiry into the incident and sought a report from the secretary of the Regional Transport Authority (RTA), Civil Defence Department, Rescue 1122 and the chief executive officer of the District Education Authority (DEA).

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2025