Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Submit Guest Post

Van-fire kills 15 in southern Pakistan

AT LEAST 15 people were killed when a passenger van travelling in southern Pakistan crashed and caught fire, officials said.

The van was carrying passengers from Karachi to Hyderabad city when it struck an object and careered off the road late Saturday(26).


"The death toll in the unfortunate accident has reached 15," said Owais Shah, the transport minister of Sindh province.

Five other people were injured, three of them critically, he said.

Most of the bodies were burned beyond recognition, said Faisal Edhi, head of the non-profit Edhi Foundation which runs the morgue the bodies were taken to.

Investigators were looking to see if a natural gas cylinder aboard the bus had contributed to the inferno.

Such incidents occur frequently on Pakistan's roads, where speeding, dilapidated vehicles and badly maintained roads all contribute to the accident rate.

Add EasternEye As Your Trusted Source
preferred source on google news

More For You

Pension

Bereaved families are waiting for Civil Service Pension Scheme payments as delays raise concerns over a two-year tax deadline

iStock

Civil service pension backlog puts bereaved families at risk of ‘death tax’

  • More than 1,600 bereavement and death-in-service cases were over 100 days old at the end of September.
  • Some pension death-benefit lump sums must be paid within two years of a scheme being notified of a death to qualify for tax-free treatment.
  • The government says compensation may be available if administrative delays cause a tax charge.

Bereaved families waiting for civil service pension payments could face an unexpected tax bill because of delays in processing death benefits, according to reporting by BBC Radio 4’s Money Box.

The issue centers on a two-year deadline for certain pension lump sums. Under HM Revenue and Customs rules, where a person dies before age 75, a lump-sum death benefit is generally tax-free only if it is paid within two years of the pension scheme first becoming aware of the death and the payment falls within the relevant tax allowance.

Keep ReadingShow less