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2nd LD Writethru: Death toll of bus collision in Pakistan rises to 30

Xinhua, October 17, 2016 Adjust font size:

The death toll of a bus collision that took place in Rahim Yar Khan district of Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Monday has risen to 30, officials said.

A police inspector of the district, Hassan Iqbal, told Xinhua that the death toll rose to 30 after three critical injured passengers succumbed to their injuries during treatment in the Sub-district hospital in Kahnpur area, a sub district of Rahim Yar Khan.

Over 50 injured were still under treatment in different hospitals of the district, the official said.

District Coordination Officer of the district, Zafar Iqbal, said the accident took place at around 6:00 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) when two speeding buses coming from opposit directions collided in Khanpur area of Rahim Yar Khan.

"One overspeeded bus tried to pass a truck, but its driver could not see another bus coming from the opposite side and had a collision that destroyed both buses," Iqbal said.

Rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and injured to the Sub-district hospital in Kahnpur and Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan.

Rescue team had to cut open the ill-fated buses to take out the bodies and injured passengers.

Director of Emergency Department of Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Manzoor, told Xinhua that they had received three bodies and 34 injured, adding that all the injured were in stable condition.

Following the accident, a state of emergency was declared in all the hospitals of the district and the masses were requested blood donations for the injured.

According to local media reports, one bus with students on board was coming from the southern port city of Karachi to the eastern city of Lahore while the other was heading toward Karachi from Sargodha city of the province.

Chief Minister of Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif, has sought reports regarding the crash and directed the authorities concerned to provide best available medical treatment to the injured.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the accident. Endit