A fatal accident on a motorway in the Punjab province of Pakistan took place on Sunday morning, leaving 18 passengers dead and 16 injured.
Police revealed that the bus carried about 40 passengers when it collided with a pickup van at the Pindi Bhattian section of the Faisalabad motorway, some 140 kilometers from Lahore, around 4:30 am.
“On the Pindi Bhatian section of the motorway, the bus hit a static van which was carrying a fuel tank. The bus hit it from the rear and both vehicles caught fire immediately, killing at least 18 passengers,” Inspector General (IG) Motorway Police Sultan Khawaja said.
The IG added that another 16 persons with burn injuries were shifted to nearby hospitals, noting that the death toll may rise as the condition of some of the injured is said to be critical.
The passengers who managed to jump off the bus survived, while others did not get a chance to get off as fire engulfed both vehicles.
IG Khawaja also highlighted the cause of the accident was yet to be ascertained “whether the bus driver fell asleep at the time of the accident or the crash took place because of overspeeding”.
