KARACHI: At least fifteen people were killed when a passenger bus collided with a truck carrying oil and diesel containers in southwest Pakistan on Friday, causing the two vehicles to catch fire.
Both vehicles fell into a ditch after the incident that took place in Killa Saifullah district of Balochistan province.
Rescue officials confirmed that at least 15 bodies had been removed from the crash site while one passenger, Gul Muhammad, miraculously survived by jumping out of the bus.
The number of casualties is high because the truck was carrying smuggled oil and diesel from Iran and when the collision took place the passenger bus also caught fire and the people were trapped inside, a rescue official of Edhi welfare trust said.
The authorities are in the process of shifting the bodies to civil hospital in Quetta for identification.
According to the Dawn newspaper, initial reports suggest that the accident took place due to over speeding.
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan blamed the vehicles “carrying smuggled oil” as a major cause of accidents.
“The accident will be investigated and a report will be presented,” he said.
Khan also directed the Balochistan chief secretary to investigate the incident and present a report within the next 24 hours. (AGENCIES)
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