Driver of ill-fated vehicle lost control as he tried to save a pedestrian, say police
In a bid to save a pedestrian life, the driver of a van instead hit the vehicle with a tree on early Tuesday morning. As many as 12 passengers were burnt alive while several were badly wounded in the fire, which erupted after the van’s head-on collision with the tree. The sad incident took place in the Golra police precincts.
“A Rawalpindi-bound Toyota Hiace bearing registration number RIR-9606 had left from Wah Cantt. It collided with a roadside tree at 7:04 am PST when the driver, Muhammad Asif, lost control of the vehicle when he tried to save a pedestrian crossing the road”, said Motorway police spokesman Javed Chaudhry.
He said the van caught fire due to short-circuiting, which caused the CNG cylinder to explode. He said the motorway policemen, rescue workers and fire brigade staff reached the scene soon after accident and moved the injured to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
“As many as 12 people were burnt alive on the spot and their bodies were hardly recognizable. Seven people including two women were seriously injured”, he said and added that the bodies and injured ones were pulled out after they cut into the wreaked vehicle. He feared the accident toll might increase since the condition of some of the injured was still serious.
Hospital source said that out of 12 dead, only four could be identified by Tuesday evening. They were: Zahir Ahmad, Shehzad Ahmad, Faisal Iqbal and Arshad. The identified bodies were sent with the heirs after completing medico-legal process. The injured passengers include Jameel Ahmad, Muhmmad Iqbal, Muhammad Asif, Meer Azger, Ferveen and Uzma.
The accident also created a traffic jam due to which long queues of vehicles were witnessed on the road. Motorists remained stuck for over two hours. An emergency was declared in the city hospitals including Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Polyclinic Hospital.