CHAKWAL, Feb 27: Seven schoolchildren aged between 11 and 15 were killed when their bus overturned and fell into a nulllah on the Motorway, near Lilla Salt Rang in Kallar Kahar, some 35km from here on Sunday, official sources said.

About 57 students suffered multiple injuries, eight of them seriously. The students of a Rawalpindi private school were going to Khewra salt mine for a picnic when the crank shaft of the bus broke at a sharp turn and it overturned and fell into a nullah resulting in the death of seven children on the spot.

The dead were identified as Tauqeer Ahmad, Waqas Miandad, Noman Gondal, Mujahid Hussian, Armaghan Siddiqui, Aqeel Akhtar and Muhammad Jamaal. The injured were taken to the Fauji Foundation Hospital in Kallar Kahar and the district headquarters hospitals Chakwal and Rawalpindi.

An emergency was declared in the hospitals. The Federal Minister for communications rushed to the place of the accident and later visited the District Headquarters Hospital Chakwal.

Talking to newsmen, he said that a trauma centre would be set up at the Bhaira Interchange for emergencies on the motorway and all advanced equipment would be made available at the centre.

He directed the Motorway Police to establish special check-posts in the salt range area to help prevent such tragic accidents. The minister said that financial assistance would be given to the parents of the dead students. Eight persons, including the bus driver, were taken to the Rawalpindi hospital.

APP ADDS: The Motorway Police said the bus was carrying 56 schoolchildren, five staff members of Radiant School Rawalpindi and bus crew. When it reached near Lilla, its driving shaft broke and the vehicle fell into a nullah. Eight schoolchildren and the bus driver, Muhammad Riaz, were taken to the PIMS where they were stated to be in critical condition.