At least eight people were killed and several others injured in a road accident when two passenger buses collided on the Indus Highway (N-55) near Rajanpur as fog engulfed the region reducing visibility on the motorway.
Rescue sources said that the buses rammed into each other at Shah Wali due to fog. One of the ill-fated buses was traveling to Karachi from Peshawar while the other was en route to Rajanpur from Quetta.
Sources further stated that the injured were rushed to a nearby hospital.
Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi expressed grief over the unfortunate incident and sought a report from the authorities concerned.
He ordered legal action against the bus driver at fault for the accident and the provision of the best medical aid for the injured.
This is the third bus accident on the Indus Highway in the last three months.
In November, a passenger bus plunged into a water-filled ditch near the Sehwan toll plaza on the Indus Highway, leaving at least 20 dead and 13 others injured.
The casualties included 12 children as well.
Deputy Commissioner Jamshoro Farid-Uddin Mustafa had said that 33 passengers were on board the ill-fated van. Twenty passengers lost their lives when the van plunged into the ditch, he said, adding that 13 passengers were rescued alive.
Police said that the Indus Highway was dredged at different points to drain out floodwater. However, the road cavities have not been filled so far, even after two months.
Earlier in October, at least 10 people were killed including women and children, and 13 others injured as a passenger bus rammed into a truck in a tragic accident on the highway near Sindh's Sann.
Drivers of both the bus and truck were also killed.
Jamshoro Senior Superintendent of Police Javed Baloch had said that the unfortunate bus was en route to Punjab from Karachi when it collided with the truck at Thori Phatak near Sann.
He said that the deceased said to be from Bahawalpur also included two children and two women.
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