Director General Punjab Emergency Service (PES) Dr Rizwan Naseer has said that Rescue 1122 rescued 71,866 emergency victims while responding to 73,430 emergencies across Punjab in the outgoing month of July, 2020. A total of 472 people were killed last in Punjab, out of which 329 people who lost their lives in road traffic crashes while 143 people died drowning emergencies during last month. He was presiding over a monthly performance review meeting held at Rescue Headquarters here on Tuesday. All Head of wings from Rescue Headquarters and Academy attended the meeting.
The Head of Provincial Monitoring Cell informed the DG Rescue Punjab that a total of 71866 were rescued 73430 victims of emergencies during the month of July 2020. Out of these emergencies, 25324 were road traffic accidents, 33488 medical emergencies, 1207 fire incidents, 3167 crimes, 236 drowning incidents, 124 building collapses, 17 explosions and 9867 miscellaneous operations. The data revealed that the majority of fire incidents occurred in major cities, involving 253 fires in Lahore, 141 in Faisalabad, 96 in Rawalpindi, 68 in Multan, 63 in Gujranwala, 39 in Bahawalpur, 38 in Sialkot, 37 in Vehari, 35 in Sheikhupura and 33 in Kasur. Similarly, 5211 traffic accidents were reported in Lahore, 2400 in Faisalabad, 2067 in Multan, 1433 in Gujranwala, 977 in Rawalpindi, 904 in Bahawalpur, 854 in Sahiwal, 781 in Sheikhupura and 748 in Kasur.
Addressing the meeting, the PES DG expressed grave concern over 472 loss of precious human lives in both emergencies of road traffic crashes and drowning emergencies in Punjab. He said the maximum number of road traffic crashes can be prevented through adopting necessary road safety measures and road safety laws. “The parents should never allow their children for taking bath at rivers/canals and other high-risk areas to avoid drowning emergencies,” he appealed.