RAWALPINDI, Feb 16: At least 18 people were killed and 28 injured in two separate road accidents in Rawalpindi and Attock districts on Sunday, police and hospital authorities said.
In the first incident, 10 people, including four women, were killed, and 25 others injured when a Hafizabad-bound passenger bus (MNQ-8280) coming from Rawalpindi collided with a truck (GTB-3881) on GT Road near Mandra at 2:30pm, the police said.
According to the police and the injured, the bus smashed into the truck while overtaking another vehicle. As a result, a motorcycle and another truck (LHA-4295) coming from behind also rammed into the bus.
The ill-fated motorcycle rider, identified by the police as Kamran Faisal, was killed on the spot. The body parts of the victims and the wreckage of the four vehicles could be seen scattered over a vast area. On hearing the hue and cry of the injured, the people from the surrounding areas rushed to their rescue, witnesses said.
The accident also hampered the flow of traffic as long queues of vehicles could be seen on both sides of the road.
The DSP rural circle, Ishtiaq Hussain Shah, talking to Dawn from the scene of the accident, said the dead and the injured were shifted to different hospitals. Four of the dead are yet to be identified as their bodies have been mutilated beyond recognition.
The cause of the accident was wrong overtaking by the bus driver, who escaped from the scene,” the DSP said.
The dead, who have been identified, are Raheela Bibi, Amir Sohail, Tariq Hussain, Mumraiz Khan and Kamran Faisal.
The injured passengers were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital Rawalpindi. Two of the injured, Mohammad Naeem and his wife, Zakia Bibi, died at the DHQ Hospital, Rawalpindi, and Mandra hospital, respectively.
Yaqoob Malik from Attock Adds: Eight people, including two women and two children, were killed on the spot when a Sargodha-bound bus (Sargodha-4551) of a private transport company coming from Fatehjang collided head-on with a car (KKA-4) coming from the opposite side near Dhoke Syedan on Kahor Road, police said.
Two of the dead were identified as Umer Darraz, a resident of Chak-190 of Sargodha district, and Syedullah Jan, a resident of Sarder Ghari, Peshawar district.
However, the names of the other persons killed in the accident could not be ascertained. The three seriously injured bus passengers — Khaki Jan, Chand Rasool and Tanveer — were later taken to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Fatehjang.
The police told this reporter that seven of the dead were travelling in the car and belonged to the same family. The accident took place due to the slippery road, the police added.
However, a case was registered by the police against the bus driver, Mohammad Riaz.
MURDERED: Three persons, including a woman, were murdered in different localities of Rawalpindi on Sunday, police said.