At least eleven people were killed and thirty-three others were critically injured when a bus collided with a truck near Pakpattan on Thursday evening, in a serious road crash that prompted an emergency response across the district.
The collision took place near 17/SP on Depalpur Road, Pakpattan. The bus involved in the crash was bound for Kasur, and it collided with a truck on that stretch of road during the evening.
The scale of the crash became clear as emergency teams reached the scene. Eleven people lost their lives in the collision, and thirty-three others were left critically injured, according to the figures reported after the incident.
Rescue 1122, the emergency service, responded to the crash and worked to free passengers who were trapped in the wreckage. The task of reaching those inside the damaged vehicles was a central part of the early response, and rescuers worked at the scene to release them.
The rescue operation continued for nearly two hours. That length of time reflects the difficulty of the work at the scene, where trapped passengers had to be freed and the injured had to be moved to care.
As the injured were brought out, the focus moved to the hospitals in the district. Pakpattan Deputy Commissioner Asif Raza declared an emergency at all district hospitals, putting the health facilities in the area on an emergency footing to receive the large number of casualties.
The Deputy Commissioner directed doctors and paramedical staff, including those who were on leave, to report immediately. The instruction covered staff who were not on duty at the time, and it was aimed at ensuring that enough medical personnel were present to treat the injured.
Two patients whose condition was critical were referred to Sahiwal Teaching Hospital. The decision to move them reflects the seriousness of their injuries and the need for the level of care available at that hospital.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz took notice of the crash. She directed the Deputy Commissioner to personally supervise the rescue work and the treatment of the injured, placing the district’s senior official in direct charge of the response.
The Chief Minister also condoled with the bereaved families, offering her sympathies to those who had lost relatives in the collision. Her intervention placed the crash among the incidents receiving attention at the level of the provincial government.
President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed sorrow over the loss of life in the crash. He prayed for the recovery of the injured, adding a message of sympathy from the head of state for those affected by the incident.
For the families of those killed, the loss is immediate and final. For the thirty-three injured, many of them critically, the hours after the crash were spent in hospitals under emergency arrangements, with doctors and paramedical staff called in to provide treatment.
The declaration of an emergency at all district hospitals shows how the local administration responded to the scale of the casualties. By directing staff on leave to report immediately, the Deputy Commissioner sought to ensure that the hospitals could cope with the number of injured arriving at the same time.
The referral of two critical patients to Sahiwal Teaching Hospital shows that, even with the emergency measures in the district, some injuries required care beyond what was available locally. The movement of those patients was part of the effort to give the most seriously injured the best available treatment.
The rescue operation, lasting nearly two hours, was the first stage of the response. The freeing of trapped passengers by Rescue 1122 was followed by the hospital emergency, the referral of critical cases, and the directions issued by the Chief Minister and the Deputy Commissioner.
The incident remains a reminder of the human cost of road crashes in the province. The bus was travelling to Kasur when it collided with the truck, and the consequences of that collision were felt across Pakpattan district on Thursday evening.
Source: Dawn, APP
