Death toll in horrific road mishap near Karachi reaches 63

KARACHI: The death toll in horrific accident between a bus and an oil tanker at Link Road near Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Karachi has climbed to 63, Geo News reported.

The passenger bus caught fierce fire after it collided with the tanker.

Four people, traveling on the roof top of the bus, remained safe after they jumped from the vehicle when it hit the tanker.

The Link Road is few kilometers far from Gulshan-e-Hadeed, within the limits of Steel Town Police Station.

Sources said the ill-fated bus, carrying 60 to 70 passengers was en route to Shikarpur from Karachi

According to initial report, the accident occurred due to the negligence of oil tanker driver, who escaped from the site after the incident.

According to Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) emergency department incharge Seemi Jamali, all the bodies were shifted Edhi morgue.

Sources said six injured passengers have also been shifted to 100-bed hospital of Pakistan Steel Mills.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah has taken notice of the accident and directed for speedy relief work.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has also expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in the incident.

AFP adds:

"The bus carrying some 50 passengers hit the oil tanker, which according to initial reports was coming in a wrong direction," senior police official Rao Muhammad Anwaar told AFP.

The victims included women and children, some of whom were charred beyond recognition, Anwaar added.

A few passengers escaped unhurt after they jumped out of the bus windows, another police official Muhammad Jan said, confirming the toll.

"We are trying to ascertain if the driver of the oil tanker was solely at fault or whether the bus driver also showed negligence," Anwaar said.