M9 motorway accident death toll rises to 17

KARACHI: The death toll in passenger van fire on the M9 motorway has jumped to 17 after two more victims of the horrific road crash passed away during treatment, ARY News reported on Monday.

The ill-fated passenger van, carrying 22 passengers, was coming to Karachi from Hyderabad when it overturned near the cerement factory at the motorway and caught the fire.

The deceased were shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital while the injured were initially shifted to Liaquat University Hospital in Hyderabad.

Thirteen fatalities were initially reported on Saturday night.

According to the rescue sources, the DNA samples of the bodies have been collected to identify the victims as the bodies have burnt completely.

The bodies have been shifted to Edhi morgue from Abbasi Shaheed hospital and will be handed over to the heirs after identification, said the authorities.

Meanwhile, the car whose bonnet hit a Karachi-bound passenger van at M-9 motorway leading to a deadly traffic accident near Nooriabad claiming lives of at least 17 people has been identified.

A CCTV footage from the Karachi toll plaza, obtained by ARY NEWS, showed the vehicle entering Karachi premises. It was later spotted near NIPA chowrangi in the city.

The injured driver of the Karachi bound passenger van claimed that a door-type object hit the tyres of the van. “I tried to avoid a hit from the object but lost control of the vehicle in the process,” Amir Abbasi said adding that the vehicle then slide down towards the pavement and overturned.

He said that the vehicle did not catch fire immediately as he took out a passenger and a child from it by breaking the glasses. “As soon I tried to rescue other passengers, it caught fire leading to the horrific incident,” he recalled.