At least 19 people died and over 146 received injuries when around a dozen vehicles collided with each other due to fog on M-2 Motorway in Punjab’s Hafizabad district on Thursday morning.
Almost all victims belonged to Misri Banda, a village in Akora Khattak area of Nowshera, and were going to Raiwind to attend the Tableeghi Jamaat’s annual congregation, which is to start on Sunday.
Some reports said the pile-up occurred two kilometres after Kot Sarwar Interchange when the driver of a Lahore-bound bus suddenly applied brakes after missing a turn on the road due to smog.
The vehicles coming from behind at a considerable speed rammed into each other, causing the disaster. The vehicles included a truck, three Mazdas, two coasters, two buses, a minibus and two cars
According to APP, the Tableeghi Jamaat’s convoy from Nowshera comprised three buses and the leading bus first collided with a trolley. “Afterwards more buses rammed into each other killing 19 passengers,” it said.
A rescue official said they received a call about the accident at 07.10 am. Rescue teams, police and other agencies reached the spot and shifted the victims to various health facilities, including the District Headquarters Hospital, Hafizabad and Tehsil Headquarters Hospital, Pindi Bhattian.
He said four victims died on the spot. “Twenty were shifted to trauma centres and 35 were provided first aid at the accident site. Seventy-nine of the injured were moved by private ambulances to THQ Pindi Bhattian,” he said, adding: “Five of the injured were stated to be in a critical condition.”
However, the APP report said as many as 32 injured were discharged after treatment; while the ‘remaining 39’ were still under treatment in various hospitals. “Of them, 12 are stated to be in a critical condition,” it said. According to hospital sources, some of the deceased were identified as Mukhtiar, Safdar , Naik Aminullah, Zartaz Muhammad, Attaul Sheikh, Mehawash Khan, Khushnud Khan, Amin Khan, Israr Khan and Hamid Khan.
A National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP) official faulted the drivers for ignoring a stop sign installed by the NH&MP. “Police had asked them to go to service lane as there was dense fog ahead but they did not follow the instructions,” he said.
Meanwhile, at least 16 bodies of the victims were received at the Misri Banda later in the day. Forty-two injured persons of the same area were also brought back to the district.
