KHANPUR: At least 33 people were killed and over 55 injured on Monday when two buses collided in Rahim Yar Khan’s Khanpur area.
Images from the crash site showed a bus on its side with its windows shattered, and another bus with its roof partly caved in.
Officials said the buses collided at about 6am (0100 GMT) near Rahim Yar Khan, some 600km south of provincial capital Lahore.
Rescue 1122 and police immediately rushed to the site and started rescue operations. Rahim Yar Khan District Coordination Officer (DCO) Capt (r) Zafar Iqbal, DPO Zeeshab
Asghar, Khanpur Assistant Commissioner Ahmed Riaz and DSP Jamshed Shah also reached the site to supervise the rescue operation.
The DCO said he feared the death toll might rise. Rahim Yar Khan police spokesperson said at least 55 other passengers received injuries.
The accident was so serious that the dead bodies and the injured were recovered after cutting through the bodies of the vehicles, he said. One of the buses was on its way from Karachi to Lahore while the other was heading to Sadiqabad from Faisalabad, he added. The dead bodies and the injured were shifted to Khanpur Hospital and Rahim Yar Khan Hospital for treatment and legal formalities.
Meanwhile, Premier Sharif has expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the accident. The prime minister also directed the authorities concerned to extend best medical treatment to the injured, a PM’s House statement said.