On Tuesday, a sleeper bus collided with an oil tanker on the M-5 Motorway, popularly known as the Multan-Sukkur Motorway near Bahawalpur, killing at least 20 people and injuring six more. The bus was travelling from Lahore to Karachi.
Speeding, according to highway officials, was the cause of the accident. According to Motorway officials, the tragedy occurred when the speeding sleeper bus lost control and crashed with an oil tanker on the Multan-Sukkur Motorway. For several hours, traffic was halted at the accident site on the M-5 Motorway.
According to a Motorway Police official, the oil tanker and bus took fire shortly after the incident.Motorway Police officers arrived on the scene immediately after the accident. The scene was also visited by local police and rescue 1122 crews. According to the speaker, the fire was so powerful and frightening that it could be seen from afar.
The majority of the passengers were pulled alive from the flaming trucks and taken to neighbouring hospitals. At least nine passengers were saved from the burning bus safely.According to the Motorway spokesperson, it took several hours for the emergency teams to extinguish the fire. The Motorway Police established an emergency crisis centre under the orders of IG Khalid Mahmood.
DIG Shahid Jawad was also present during the rescue operation. At 9 p.m., the ill-fated sleeper bus left Lahore for Karachi. According to bus company sources, the bus had two drivers on board. In Sukkur, the entire staff had to be replaced. There were 24 passengers on board, with two travelling to Hyderabad and the other 22 travelling to Karachi.