30 Dead, 74 Injured in Bus-Truck Collision in Pakistan’s Punjab Province

The majority of the passengers were labourers who were going to their hometown to celebrate Eid-ul Azha on Wednesday, officials said.

New Delhi: At least 30 people were killed and 74 injured when a passenger bus and truck collided on a highway in Dera Ghazi Khan district of Pakistan’s Punjab Province on Sunday, reported news agency Reuters. Among those killed, most were labourers going to their hometown to celebrate Eid-ul Azha falling on Wednesday. The bus was en route from Sialkot to Rajanpur when the accident took place on the Indus Highway near Taunsa bypass in Dera Ghazi Khan district, some 430 km from Lahore. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where medical staff confirmed the death of 18 people upon their arrival.

Minister of Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet confirmed that at least thirty people have lost their lives in the accident near Dera Ghazi Khan. He appealed to public vehicle drivers to drive carefully for the safety of passengers. Quoting an injured passenger a police official said the driver of the bus seemed to have fallen a sleep and lost control over the vehicle that caused the accident.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar expressed grief over the accident but didn’t announce any compensation for the victims. Traffic accidents are common in Pakistan and most of them are caused due to overspending, bad roads and untrained drivers.