CHINIOT
The death toll from the head-on collision between a passenger van and dumper truck occurred near Harsa Sheikh, has reached 17 as some more injured succumbed to their injuries in Allied Hospital.
The accident occurred the other night when a Islamabad-bound Hi-roof van, coming from Faisalabad, carrying 18 passengers collided head-on with a dumper truck near Harsa Sheikh on Pindi Bhattian Road, some 20-km away from Chiniot Motorway ‘apparently’ due to speeding. Following the accident, a fire erupted in the van due to gas leakage from CNG Cylinder. Resultantly 17 persons including two minor children were burnt alive.
The condition of two injured Petras Maseeh and Ikram Ullah is said to be critical at Allied Hospital Faisalabad. On information, the district police administration and Rescue 1122 rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire after great struggle.
DPO Munir Zia told the media that gas started leaking from cylinders after collision due to which it caught fire. The dead bodies and injured were shifted to DHQ Hospital. They bodies were sent to their hometowns in Faisalabad, Nowshera and other areas. Meanwhile, Chiniot DCO Dr Irshad Ahmed informed that the doors of the van got locked after the collision due to which the passengers were burnt alive. It is to be noted that the DHQ Hospital lacks a dead house to keep the bodies. When the dead bodies reached the hospital, they were kept in the Children Ward due to which no child could be admitted to the ward.
DCO Dr Irshad Ahmad also confirmed that there was no dead house as old THQ Hospital had been renamed as DHQ after district status was awarded to Chiniot in 2009. He said that a plan for the construction of new DHQ Hospital was being submitted to the Punjab government for approval and allocation of funds.
EDO HEALTH SUSPENDED
Punjab Health Secretary Hassan Iqbal suspended EDO Health Dr Ijaz Haider within a month of his posting and directed him to report to the Secretariat. Meanwhile, DO Health Dr Munir Ahmad has been given additional charge of the EDO Health Chiniot