LAHORE: Five innocent lives were lost on Wednesday due to the recklessness of a bus driver, who chose to drive through the Shah Di Khui underpass with an overloaded vehicle. Five children, sitting on the roof of the bus, were crushed when it drove through the underpass, which was not high enough for such a large vehicle to pass under it.
Muhammad Afzal, a bus driver employed by the Lahore Transport Company (LTC), violated traffic rules and changed his designated route, opting to go on the Canal Road instead of Multan Road. He passed through the Shah Di Khui Underpass, which resulted in the five children – Rizwan Safdar, Sajid, Faisal Masih, Aqib and Shoaib – who had been sitting on top of the bus being crushed between the roof of the bus and the cement structure.
Flee the scene: Muhammad Afzal and Sajid Bukhari, the fare collector, fled the scene and the bus was taken into custody by the Johar Town Police Station. The deceased children were residents of Nawab Sahib area in Raiwind and studied at the Islamia High School, Raza Abad. They had bunked their classes to go to Data Sahib and were returning to their homes when the accident took place.
The victims of the accident are Rizwan Safdar, Sajid, Faisal Masih, Aqib, Shoaib.
The Jinnah Hospital deputy medical superintendent told Daily Times that four children had already died by the time they were brought to the hospital, while one passed away soon after being brought. He said all the children had suffered severe chest injuries and their heads had almost been completely crushed.
Safdar Ali, one of the people travelling on the bus and the father of one of the boys who was crushed, said that the bus driver had changed his usual route and instead of going from the Multan Road had opted to take the Canal Road.
“After being told to do so by the fare collector, the driver accelerated the bus and took it through the underpass… the children sitting on the roof of the bus were crushed under the cement structure. We tried to catch the driver and the fare collector, but they were quick to flee the scene. After I looked upon the dead children, I realised that one of them was my own son. The bus driver and fare collector should be hanged… I will fight for justice with my dying breath,” he said.
Suspended: The deputy inspector general (DIG) (traffic) told Daily Times that he accepted that “poor performance of the traffic police” for allowing such an incident to take place. “Nine wardens, namely Mubeen, Sajid, Irshad, Azeem, Khurram, Jamil, Owais, Asif and Haneef, and two inspectors namely Iftikhar and Zahid Mukhtar have been suspended, while Nadeem Abbad, a traffic inspector, has been issued a show cause notice for failing to stop the bus from travelling on the Canal Road,” the DIG said.
Separately, Regional Transport Authority Secretary Munir Joya told Daily Times the authority would take stern action against such criminal negligence. Also, Station House Officer Umer Mushtaq said the authorities would diligently pursue the case and the bus driver would be brought to justice.