KHAIRPUR: At least 21 people lost their lives while seven others were severely injured when a passenger van collided with a truck in Khairpur district of Sindh province Monday morning, police officials and rescuers said.
Police officials said a Sukkur-bound van carrying 23 passengers from Hingorja slammed into a coal laden-truck while overtaking near Shah Hussain Bypass on the National Highway. The two vehicles fell off the road and into a ditch as a result of the collision, said the officials, adding that the dead included traders and labourers.
The Motorway Police and Khairpur Police reached the spot and shifted the dead bodies and injured to Civil Hospital, Khairpur from where 12 of the bodies were handed to the heirs.
Khairpur Senior Superintendent of Police Azfar Mahesar said one of the survivors told him that the driver had erred in trying to overtake the truck amid thick fog.
Rescue officials said that the search and rescue operation was delayed because the coal in the truck was a hazard, adding that cutters were being used to cut away the vehicles’ carcass to rescue the passengers.
The victims were the residents of Ranipur, Kumb, Drib Mehar Shah, Gambat and other areas. The truck driver fled the scene after the incident.