• Friday, April 19, 2024

News

Van-fire kills 15 in southern Pakistan

A volunteer walks past a burnt passenger van following an overnight accident in the Nooriabad area on a highway some 50 kilometers from Pakistan’s port city of Karachi late on September 26, 2020.(Photo by Rizwan TABASSUM / AFP) (Photo by RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Pramod Thomas

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.

Related Stories

Videos

Mrunal Thakur on Dhamaka, experience of working with Kartik Aaryan,…
Nushrratt Bharuccha on Chhorii, pressure of comparison with Lapachhapi, upcoming…
Abhimanyu Dassani on Meenakshi Sundareshwar, how his mom Bhagyashree reacted…