At least eight people were killed and eighteen 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. Police said that that the two buses were heading in opposite directions but collided with each other due to the dense fog on the highway. As a result of the crash, eight passengers were killed on spot while 18 others sustained injuries.
The injured and bodies of the dead were pulled out and rushed to a nearby local hospital. The process of identifying the dead is being carried out.
According to the rescue team, one of the buses was travelling to Karachi from Peshawar and the other one was coming back to Rajanpur from Quetta. The accident happened at Shahwali due to intense fog in the area.
The rescue team reached the spot as the accident was reported. The bodies and the injured were shifted to a nearby state hospital. Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi while taking notice of the incident sought a report. He expressed his grievance and extended condolences to the bereaved families. Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman also expressed sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.
