Death toll in Nooriabad passenger van blaze reaches 17

KARACHI: The death toll in the passenger van fire on the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway has increased to 17 after two more victims passed away during treatment.

The ill-fated passenger van carrying 22 passengers was coming to Karachi from Hyderabad when it overturned near a cement factory in Nooriabad and caught fire.

The deceased were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital while the injured were initially shifted to Liaquat University Hospital in Hyderabad.  The police have also registered a case against the passenger van driver for negligence on the complaint of SHO Nooriabad.

Two more injured who had sustained serious burn injuries in the fire succumbed to their injuries on Sunday taking the death toll to 17. Six members of a family from Hyderabad were reportedly among the victims, who were on their way to Karachi to visit their relatives.

The bodies of 14 passengers have been kept at the Edhi morgue in Karachi’s Sohrab Goth and will be handed over to the heirs after identification.

Nooriabad SHO Abdul Latif said two minor girls aged between five to seven years, one minor boy, eight women and four men were among the passengers who lost their lives in the tragedy.

According to initial investigation, the bonnet of a car broke off and hit the passenger van after which the driver lost control of the vehicle. The car has been identified and the CCTV footage from Karachi toll plaza showed the vehicle entering the city and was later spotted near NIPA chowrangi.

The passenger van driver, who sustained 50 percent burn injuries, is among the injured persons. The Nooriabad police have registered a case against him for negligence and overspeeding.