DADU: A case has been registered on behalf of state against driver and owner of the ill-fated bus, which caught fire due to short circuit on M9 Motorway near Nooriabad a day before.

Eighteen flood victims, among them three women and 15 children, who were returning to their hometown Khairpur Nathan Shah died in the blaze.

Motorway Police’s sub-inspector Ali Azhar lodged the case at Nooriabad police station on Thursday against the driver Imran Sheikh and owner of the coach Malik Noor, who were accused of running the vehicle which was unfit for long distance travel.

Hyderabad DIG Syed Pir Mohammad Shah told Dawn that a team led by Jamshoro SSP Javed Baloch had been formed to arrest the driver and the coach owner.

Collective funeral prayer of 18 bus fire victims offered in K.N. Shah

Collective funeral prayer offered

Collective funeral prayers for 18 victims of a bus fire, who burnt to death when their coach caught fire near Nooriabad a day before, was performed at Ali Akbar Mugheri village, three kilometres from K.N. Shah on Thursday.

A large number of flood victims of nearby villages and members of Mugheri tribe attended the funeral prayer at the village’s graveyard.

Zaffar Mugheri, the village head, said that three of the victims were women and 15 were children aged four to 14 years. They were; Mariam, Zulekhan, Rahiman, Sasui, Sania, Sawera, Hasnain, Raheeman, Sanam, Rukhsana, Aneela, Ambreen, Khania, Soman, Afsana, Masroor, Shabanam and Iqra Mugheri.

As the dead bodies were brought aboard Edhi ambulances to the village from Sohrab Goth, Karachi, all relatives broke into weeping and sobbing.

A survivor of the accident, Imdad Ali Mugheri, said that as soon as the fire broke out, he jumped from the coach but could not save his eight children who burnt to death before his eyes. The blaze was so intense he could do nothing but to watch them helplessly, he said.

He said that he moved his family to Karachi along with other relatives after flood submerged their houses. He saved his family members from floodwaters but could not save them from the fire when he was finally returning to the village after facing great hardships and humiliation, he said.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2022