RAWALPINDI: As many as 199 people were killed and 18,434 injured in 16,626 road traffic accidents in Rawalpindi district during the current year.

A spokesman for Rescue 1122 said that 16,626 road traffic accidents were reported to the service in Rawalpindi district in 2025.

A total of 18,633 people were affected in these accidents. Of them, 199 lost their lives, 8,472 were seriously injured and 9,962 sustained minor injuries, the spokesman said. Among the victims, 15,661 were men and 2,972 were women. The spokesman said the majority of the road traffic accidents involved car drivers and motorcycle riders, while most of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 40 years.

Rescue Service Rawalpindi reached all reported accidents within the average response time and provided timely emergency services to the victims. The major causes of accidents included speeding, careless driving, one-wheeling, wrong turns, tyre blowouts and other factors. He said Rescue Service Rawalpindi was also working to reduce road traffic accidents through awareness programmes and training sessions in schools, colleges and other institutions.

Meanwhile, three members of a family, including parents and a child, were hospitalised after sustaining burn injuries in a gas leak explosion followed by a fire in Mehboob Lane on Peshawar Road on Monday.

According to initial reports, the explosion occurred when a housewife struck a matchstick near a gas stove, triggering a fire. A man, a woman and a child were injured in the incident. Rescue 1122 firefighters reached the scene shortly after the fire erupted and shifted the injured to a hospital.

Rescue 1122 also issued an advisory regarding gas leakage incidents during winter, urging people to take timely precautions to protect lives. The spokesman said such accidents increase during winter due to the use of gas heaters and stoves, adding that most gas leakage incidents result from minor negligence.

He advised that in case of a gas smell, people should not switch on electrical appliances or light a fire. Doors and windows should be opened immediately to ventilate the house, and families should be evacuated to a safe place outside.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2025