12 die as passenger van hits toll plaza near Islamabad

RAWALPINDI: At least 12 people were killed on Monday, seven others wounded critically when a passenger van caught fire after the gas cylinder blew up and the van collided with the toll plaza near Islamabad.

Ten people died on the spot while three succumbed to their injuries in hospitals. The van was coming from Sargodha to Islamabad with 17 passengers on board, excluding driver and a helper. Passersby and the people living around the spot of accident gathered there and helped the police to take out the injured from the wreckage of the van which had burned totally. According to an eyewitness account, dead bodies were trapped in the wreckage, however, the rescuers pulled out the bodies after cutting the body of the van.

Though the highway and local police rushed to the spot to carry out rescue operations immediately, but 10 passengers were found dead when they reached the accident site.

Top officers of the Islamabad Police and District Administration reached the scene and managed to shift dead bodies and wounded passenger to different hospital, mainly to PIMS hospital.

The District Administration sources said that four passengers who died on the spot were identified as Fateh Mohammad son of Mohammad Yousaf, Mohammad Ashraf son of Mian Mohammad, Zulfiqar son of Mohammad Bukhsh resident of Chak No. 140, Sargodha and Waqar Haider son of Ghulam Haider, resident of Dhaka, Khoshab.

While, all injured identified as Noreen, 28, Imran, 21, Rehan Amjad, 9, Afzal Masih, 25, Imran Pervaiz, 30 and Amin, 21 were in critical condition and admitted to Burn Centre of the PIMS.

A spokesperson of the Rescue-1122, told this correspondent that total 17 passengers were on board, 10 killed on the spot while 7 were shifted to PIMS in critical condition – 15 were shifted to PIMS, one in DHQ and one in CMH, adding that none of them injured was out of danger, as all had burnt 90%.

He said that teams of Rescue-1122, reached the scene in shortest possible time and started special operation for evacuation of the victims and recovery of dead bodies. The PIMS sources said that post mortem of the dead bodies would be conducted soon. However, the district administration has facilitated the heirs of the deceased passengers for collection of dead bodies after the post mortem.