The Sindh High Court directed the Sindh chief secretary on Wednesday to ensure DNA identification of the bus accident victims expeditiously.
SHC Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, who headed a division bench, also issued notices to the home secretary, secretary Regional Transport Authority (RTA), IG Sindh, DIG traffic, National Highway Authority (NHA) director general and Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) administrator to submit detailed and comprehensive reports on the traffic accident on Superhighway that claimed over 60 lives.
The court further directed the chief secretary to ensure that the samples for DNA test are obtained and sent to the relevant DNA testing labs in Islamabad and Lahore as early as possible and pursue the matter vigorously so that the reports may be obtained at the earliest.
It instructed the authorities to explain possible cause of the accident and suggest ways and measures to prevent such occurrences in future. The bench had taken up a constitutional petition seeking probe into cause of the tragedy and action against those responsible for it. It set January 23 for next hearing.
A day before Chief Justice Baqar had converted into constitutional petition a letter addressed to him by an NGO, Justice Helpline, president Advocate Nadeem Shaikh and a relative of a bereaved lawyer family.
In the letter, it was stated that an advocate Muhammad Yasin Ahmed and his family travelling in ill-fated bus lost their lives and their burnt bodies were beyond identification.
Advocate Nadeem said fire tenders of Pakistan Steel Mill were in close proximity to the place of accident but its administration did not render any assistance to extinguish fire. The cattle colony fire station as per routine remained open from 9am to at 5pm, adding it was very strange that fire department was negligent about that fact and there was no check on their activities by the provincial government.
He said bereaved families were waiting for the charred bodies of their relatives lying at the mortuary due to DNA identification but the authorities delaying the matter.
He prayed that direction be given to the government to make payment of reasonable compensation to the legal heirs of victims.
