By Rafiullah Mandokhail
ZHOB,(Parliament Times): A Quetta-bound passenger coach plunged into a ravine in the mountainous region of Dhana Sar on Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan national highway N-50, resultantly 20 passengers including 7 students of varsities were killed and 13 others sustained serious injuries. District Support Manager PPHI Dr Hadi Kibzai confirms the death toll.
The passenger coach – 33 passengers on-board was heading to the provincial capital Quetta from Rawalpindi, skidded-off owing to the slippery road following heavy rain and plunged into a deep ravine on Saturday night. Medical Emergency Response Center (MERC 1122) team, Levies and Frontier Corps personnel rushed to the scene soon after receiving information and tried to retrieve the bodies from the wreckage of the vehicle.
The dead bodies and the injured have been shifted to the District Headquarters civil hospital Zhob and Mughal Kot health facility. An emergency has also been imposed. Hospital officials say, majority of the injured were in critical condition and the death toll may rise.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo have expressed their grief over the lives lost in the tragic incident. They also offered their condolences to the victims’ families. Although the exact cause behind the Sunday’s fatal accident has not been immediately known, yet the officials concerned are looking into the possible mechanical fault or human error.
On June 8th, twenty-two people including women and children lost their lives, when a Zhob-bound passenger flying coach plunged into a hundreds of feet deep ravine near Killa Saifullah district. The accident took place about 200km north of the provincial capital Quetta. The ill-fated van, with 23 people on board, had left Loralai for Zhob but before reaching its destination fell from a hilltop near Adwala Akhterzai area.
Lack of awareness regarding road safety measures, poor road infrastructure, ill-trained drivers and over speeding are the contributing factors behind the traffic accidents on Balochistan’s highways. Poorly maintained vehicles is also one of the contributing factors. Balochistan Youth and Civil Society data shows that, 179 road accidents have taken place on different national highways in Balochistan in the first week of June, in which 51 people were killed and 289 others injured, while the National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP) officials reveal that, 6,000 to 8,000 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Balochistan every year.