[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]On Sunday night, at least 14 members of a wedding party, including women and children, were killed and 64 others were injured when a bus fell into a ravine and overturned near Kallar Kahar.
This is the fourth major road accident in Pakistan in less than two months.
According to rescue and police officials, 12 passengers died on the scene, while two others died in the hospital on Sunday. The bus driver was also killed in the fatal accident.
The injured have been transported to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital in Kallar Kahar.
Quratulain Malik, Deputy Commissioner of Chakwal, told Dawn.com that the wedding party was returning to Lahore from Islamabad.
“The vehicle was passing through a curved section of the Islamabad-Lahore motorway when its brakes failed and the bus collided with two cars coming from the opposite side,” she explained.
“Six passengers sustained critical injuries and were airlifted to Rawalpindi,” said the DC.
Meanwhile, Dr. Atique Ahmed, the district in charge of Rescue 1122, reported that a car was still trapped beneath the bus. “The bus was so badly damaged that we had to cut it to get the injured people and dead bodies out,” he explained.
A police report has been filed at the Kallar Kahar police station.
A police official told Dawn.com that the accident happened on a dangerous stretch of the highway that ran through the hilly Salt Range near Kallar Kahar.
“Most accidents happen on this stretch because it’s curvy and sloppy,” he said, adding that drivers unfamiliar with the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway were prone to such fatal mishaps.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased in a message sent after the accident was reported.
He also asked the authorities to provide the best medical care possible to the injured people and wished them a speedy recovery.
The tragic accident was also expressed by National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
