Journey to disaster

There has been yet another tragic road accident in the country. This time a passenger bus carrying some 47 people was travelling from Hyderabad to Karachi when it collided with a car near Jamshoro. The accident led to the LPG cylinders installed in the passenger van leaking and causing the vehicle to ignite. The cylinders themselves did not burst. But as police have pointed out, their installation in passenger vehicles is illegal. Seventeen people, including three children and four women are now dead as a result of the accident. Others have been burnt so badly that they cannot be identified without DNA testing. They are currently lying at an Edhi-run morgue.

The accident is yet another one among the frightful vehicular disasters we have seen in our country. Officials from the police say it could easily have been avoided had the driver of the passenger van not been over-speeding and lost control of his vehicle after the initial collision. A case has been registered against him. And he is currently lying in hospital with 50 percent burns. But no matter what punishment he may be awarded, or what action if any, may be taken against others, the fact is that people have lost lives in an incident that could easily have been avoided if traffic rules were more routinely followed and people were less apt to race along highways as if they were involved in a video game.

According to the information that is currently available, the passenger vehicle was carrying people from Hyderabad to see family members and others in Karachi. Six of those that have died belong to the same family. We can only imagine the grief and suffering of that family which lost so many of its members in one single moment of disaster. The suffering of those who lie in hospital with serious burn injuries is also almost unimaginable. It is fortunate that they are in a city where facilities exist to treat burn wounds.

In the meanwhile, we need to think about the number of accidents that take place in our country, which is not particularly large as far as motorways and highways go, with the number of people travelling along them relatively small, despite us being a large population. It is obviously essential that we ensure rules on roads and motorways are followed more strictly and more precautions taken to save people from such unbearable deaths on these roads. This kind of accident has happened before and undoubtedly there will be others unless we take immediate action and make serious attempts to put right the manner in which highways are patrolled, and how vehicles are policed, so that people can be saved from such outcomes while simply going on a trip.