DERA MURAD JAMALI: Six people were burnt to death and four others injured in a head-on collision between a vehicle carrying smuggled oil and a fruit truck on the Quetta-Sukkur highway near the Machh area of Bolan district early Tuesday morning.

The injured included two police personnel.

The huge fire that broke out due to the collision destroyed both the vehicles besides damaging three other vehicles and a nearby checkpoint.

The injured and the bodies were shifted to the Bolan Medical College Hospital, Quetta, situated some 70kms from the place of the accident.

Official sources said that the driver of the fruit truck lost control over the steering when its brakes failed and it hit the other vehicle carrying smuggled oil head on. The truck was coming from Quetta, they added.

Within no time, they said, the huge flames engulfed the truck and the vehicle carrying the smuggled oil and trapped those inside the two vehicles.

“Six persons, including two brothers, were burnt to death and four others, including two policemen, received burn injuries,” retired captain Furrakh Atiq, deputy commissioner of Bolan, confirmed.

Officials of Bolan district administration and personnel of law enforcement agencies rushed to the site after receiving information about the accident.

However, there was no sign of survival as the people trapped in the huge fire were found completely burnt and beyond recognition. “There was no arrangement at the place to control fire,” the sources said, adding that rescuers found it difficult to retrieve bodies and rescue injured due to the huge flames.

Traffic on the highway remained suspended for some time after the accident.

Among the deceased, the two brothers were identified as Imdad Ali and Mumtaz Ali, while another victim was identified as Abdul Malik. One of them was not identified, as his body was burnt beyond recognition.

Security officials said a nearby checkpoint on the highway was also damaged in the huge fire. Two police officials, Rub Nawaz and Abdul Khaliq, on duty at the checkpoint received burn injuries and were shifted to Quetta.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2018

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