Initial reports suggest that the accident occurred due to alleged negligence and reckless driving on the part of the van driver.
At least 16 people were killed and seven others injured in a tragic road accident on Swat Highway. PHOTO: EXPRESS
RAWALPINDI:
At least 16 people were killed and six others injured in a road accident on the Swat highway on Monday after a passenger van rammed into a parked bus, according to highway police.
National Roads and Motorways Police officials said a passenger bus traveling from Karachi to Buner was parked along the roadside on Swat Highway when a passenger van traveling from Rawalpindi to Dir rammed it from behind. The impact of the collision was so violent that the van was seriously crushed.
Rescue teams and traffic police personnel arrived at the scene after receiving information about the accident and transferred the dead and injured to the Mardan Medical Complex. Authorities said the victims included men, women, the elderly and children.
Initial reports suggest that the accident occurred due to alleged negligence and reckless driving on the part of the van driver, who rammed into the stationary bus from behind. Further investigation into the incident is underway.
Meanwhile, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shafi Jan expressed deep sadness over the loss of lives in the accident. In a statement, he offered his condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families, calling the loss of precious human lives “extremely tragic”.
He said the injured were receiving the best possible medical care and added that the provincial government was standing by the affected families during this difficult time.
