Four women among 16 killed in truck-bus collision on Mehran Highway

SUKKUR: Sixteen passengers were killed while many more were injured in a passenger bus and truck head-on collision on the Mehran Highway, Khairpur, on Wednesday.
Reports said a Karachi-bound passenger coach coming from Sadiqabad and a Punjab-bound truck collided head-on at Kubberi Shakh near Seitharija Mehran Highway, Khairpur. Police and local people rushed to the spot and started rescue efforts.
SSP Khairpur Nasir Aftab Pathan and SP Sajid Husain Khokhar also reached the spot and supervised the rescue operation. Police and volunteers shifted the injured and dead to a local hospital, where the policemen and local people donated blood for the victims.
SP Sajid Husain Khokhar said 13 passengers, including four women were killed. He said six bodies could be identified as those of Muhammad Hasan Qureshi of Muzaffargarh, Ata Muhammad of Rahimyar Khan, Zaib Zareen Pathan, Hayat Khan Pathan of Quetta, Jalil Siddiqi of Model Colony, Karachi, and Fayyaz Mastoi of Sadiqabad.
The injured included Sehrish, Perveen, Jamil Rajput, Samina, Asad Ali, Shaukat Arain, Mustafa Memon and others, the SP added. He said some seriously injured were shifted to Nawabshah and Karachi as well.
Commissioner Sukkur and DC Khairpur also rushed to the scene and directed the concerned officials to ensure medical aid to the injured. They said the bodies were sent to their native places through Edhi ambulances.
Agencies add: At least 16 people were killed and 20 others injured in a bus accident on the Mehran National Highway while six persons, including a couple and three children died, when a car overturned in the Bela area, Hub.
The accident took place when a passenger bus, heading to Karachi from Islamabad, collided with a truck at Peer Sadaq Ali bus stop near Sui Gas, Khairpur. Drivers of both the vehicles died on the spot while three passengers succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital.
The injured were shifted to Thari Mirwah, Gambat and Civil Hospital in Khairpur.Emergency was declared at hospitals in Thari Mirwah, Gambat and Civil Hospital, Khairpur.Sources said the driver of the speedy bus lost control of the vehicle which caused it to crash into a truck coming from the opposite direction.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed grief over the loss of precious lives in a road accident near Khairpur, Sindh. He extended condolences to families of the deceased and directed provision of best-possible medical facilities to the injured.
The premier also asked the authorities for measures to ensure better road safety to prevent such accidents in future.Also, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed shock and grief over the fatal road accident in Khairpur.
Meanwhile, six persons, including a couple, three children and a motorcyclist died in a road accident in Hub.Police said that a speedy private car overturned after hitting a motorcycle in the Bela area of Hub.The bodies were shifted to hospital from where they were handed over to heirs after medico-legal formalities.