At least 33 passengers killed, over 40 injured in bus-truck collision in Pakistan

Gulf Today Report

At least 33 passengers, mostly laboureres, travelling home to celebrate Eid Al Adha with loved ones, were killed and over 40 others injured when their bus rammed into a truck on a highway in central Pakistan on Monday.

According to police “the bus had left the city of Sialkot and was travelling on Taunsa Road and its destination was the city of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province.”

A local police official said that the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation. Rescuers transported the dead bodies and injured to a nearby hospital.

An in charge of the rescue team at the site, told local media persons that some of the injured passengers were in critical condition. He said the bus driver was among the 33 killed in the mishap.

People gather around covered bodies close to the site of the bus accident near Dera Ghazi Khan. AP

According to another official the laboureres were travelling in the bus to their home district of Rajanpur, Punjab province, to celebrate the upcoming Eid Al Adha feast.

TV footage and photos shared on social media showed rescuers trying to retrieve the bodies from the crashed bus.

Residents and rescue workers at the site of the deadly bus accident near Dera Ghazi Khan. AP

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar expressed grief over the loss of lives in the deadly bus-truck collision and extended condolences to the bereaved families.

Buzdar said in a message on Twitter that the injured were being provided the best medical treatment and strict action would be taken against persons due to whose negligence the accident had taken place.

Federal Information Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry expressed his condolences to the families of the victims on his twitter account. Chaudhry also advised buses' drivers to be more careful of the lives of the people they have been entrusted with. When will we as a nation realise that the violation of traffic rules is fatal, Chaudhry tweeted.