SAHIWAL: Nine people died and 30 were injured in fog-related accidents in various districts of the province on Monday.

In Sahiwal, two persons, including a nine-year-old child, lost their lives and eight others were critically injured in separate smog-related road accidents that occurred in the early hours of Monday.

Reports said heavy smog blanketed the districts of Pakpattan, Okara and Sahiwal, reducing visibility to almost zero on roads and streets. The first accident took place on Mahangoo Road near Adda Noorpur in tehsil Pakpattan.

Eyewitnesses said a tractor-trolley took a wrong turn, causing a van to hit it from behind. Moments later, a mini-bus, coming at high speed, failed to see the van due to dense fog and rammed into it. The front portion of the bus was badly damaged as it got entangled with the trolley.

Rescue 1122 teams pulled the driver and front-seat passengers trapped in the iron structure. It took them 40 minutes to recover the injured person from the van’s front structure. The passers-by also assisted the rescuers in pulling two passengers who sustained severe leg fractures. A child, identified as Adnan, son of Iqbal and a resident of Chanote, died on the spot. Rescue officials provided first aid to four passengers at the scene and shifted six of them to DHQ Hospital, Pakpattan.

In the second accident at Athwain Meel on the Pakpattan Road, a motorcyclist collided head on with a tractor-trolley coming from the opposite direction.

Rescue sources said the biker could not see the trolley due to fog. He sustained a fatal head injury and died on impact, while his two companions received injuries. Both injured were shifted by Rescue 1122 to the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital.

In the third incident, an old woman was crushed by an unidentified car near Adda Gamber on the National Highway in the early hours of morning. The driver escaped from the scene after leaving the woman’s body on the road.

Rescue 1122 shifted the body to the Sahiwal Teaching Hospital.

TOBA TEK SINGH: Three passengers of a motorcycle-rickshaw died and as many others were injured after a speeding bus hit the three-wheeler in thick fog on the Shahkot Road near Meerpur locality of Nankana Sahib.

Shahkot Assistant Commissioner Atiya Enayat who supervised the rescue work.

The deceased were identified as Sajjad (14), Waqas (20) and Shakil (18) while the injured as Abdul Ghani (20),Saadi (40) and Bilal (15). They were shifted to Shahkot THQ Hospital by Rescue 1122.

Meanwhile, a wedding party van collided with an out-of-order husk laden tractor-trolley parked on Faisalabad Road near Chak 139-GB, Rampur, at Samundri. As a result, two wedding guests died and three were injured seriously.

The deceased were identified as Khalid Mahmood (35) and Adnan (40). The three injured persons who were shifted to Samundri THQ hospital included Ghulam Bibi (50), Saqlain (22) and Bilal (24).

The wedding party people were returning to Sargodha from Samundri along with a procession of bride and groom.

OKARA: Ten men and two women suffered injuries in a collision between a bus and car at 36 Juraywala Road. The accident happened due to smog.

In another incident near Adda Satgrah on Okara-Satgrah Road due low visibility, a mini-bus of factory workers turned over. Sobia and Sajida suffered injuries in the accident.

In the third incident on Okara-Faisalabad road near Pul 20/ GD, a rickshaw collided with an overturned trolley laden with sugarcane which left Shahzeb Ali and Asad Ali injured.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2025