A passenger bus en route to Jacobabad overturned in the Fazilpur area of Punjab’s Rajanpur district on Sunday morning, leaving five people dead on the spot and 20 others injured, after the driver “fell asleep”. With the devotees of a Sufi saint aboard, the bus was on its way back to Jacobabad from Sakhi Sarwar, when it turned turtle after the driver lost control of it due to falling asleep, rescue officials said.
Rescue teams rushed to the site of the accident immediately after receiving the news and transferred the injured to hospitals. People with severe injuries were shifted to Rajanpur district hospital, while the others were shifted to a local hospital in Fazilpur. Deceased passengers of the ill-fated bus included a woman and two children.
Rescue services district incharge Dr Aslam said that the accident took place as the driver of the bus lost control due to falling asleep. The accident comes days after another bus tragedy in the Geeti-Das area near Babusar Top, which killed eight people and injured several others. The tourist bus fell into a deep gorge while navigating a sharp turn on the mountainous terrain, and caught fire on Friday.
Before that, six people were killed in a similar bus accident in the Thalichi area of Diamer district on July 16. According to district emergency officer Dr Muhammad Aslam, a bus of devotees was heading towards Jacobabad from Jhang. All of a sudden, the bus collided with a safety barrier installed along the road when its driver fell asleep. As a result, the bus overturned.
The four deceased persons were identified as Yasir son of Muhammad Yousuf, resident of Jacobabad, Shajar Ali son of Abdullah, Shafique son of Ghulam Sarwar and Muhammad Zia son of Muhammad Akram. Besides this, Safia Bibi, Zameer Ali, Mussrat Bibi, Uzair Ahmed, Suffian, Amaan Mai, Hussain Bukhash, Obaidullah, Noshaba Bibi, Mai Laal, Nasir Ali, Muhammad Aamir, Ali Haider, Qadeer Hussain.
