Two buses fall in Murree ravine, 20 killed
09 January, 2014
MURREE: More than 20 people were killed and scores of others wounded when two buses plunged into deep ravine after a head-on collision in Murree on Wednesday.
The deadly accident took place at Salgiran area of Murree. The area is a famous picnic spot. Chief Traffic Officer Ishtiaq Shah said 20 bodies have already been pulled out of the crashed buses.
According to reports, around 80 people were onboard the buses. Rescue teams shifted the bodies and injured to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital. Spokesperson of PIMS, Dr Ayesha confirmed that 19 bodies from the Murree accident have been shifted to the hospital.
After the accident, emergency was declared in PIMS and Polyclinic hospitals of the federal capital. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken notice of the accident and expressed annoyance over non-implementation of the traffic rules by the officials concerned during inclement weather. He directed the administration to devise a traffic plan by Thursday (today) and ensure its strict implementation. He also asked local administration to submit a report on the accident.
The prime minister directed the district coordination officer and Rawalpindi city police officer to immediately launch a rescue operation at the accident site and supervise it personally. He also noted with concern that there was an absence of standard operating procedures (SPOs) for traffic regulation during bad weather conditions which, he said, was not acceptable. He asked the divisional administration and police to devise this strategy by Thursday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has expressed his grief over the tragic incident and directed best of the medical facilities to the wounded patients.
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