PM vows ‘thorough inquiry’ into Bahawalpur oil tanker incident

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived in Bahawalpur on Monday morning where he was briefed about the Ahmedpur Sharqia oil tanker tragedy.

Speaking on the occasion, he ordered Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif to hold thorough inquiry into the incident and vowed the probe won’t be abandoned without its complete findings.

Read: Oil tanker fire kills 140, injures 100 in Bahawalpur

PM Sharif said deceased persons of the oil tanker tragedy will be given Rs 2 million each, while injured persons were being given Rs 1 million each.

He said the amount couldn’t compensate the loss they have suffered. He said one of the injured also requested him for a job, and the PM said he promised him of vocation once he pulls through.

The PM said all of the injured as well as heirs of the deceased persons of oil tanker incident will be provided with jobs. He called upon detractors to avoid politics on the sensitive issue where human sufferings require immediate redressal rather than point scoring.

He prayed for the early recovery of the injured and assured of government assistance to the victims.

Speaking to media, Shahbaz said he said forensic lab reports of Lahore and Bahawalpur were underway and they would soon be made public their findings

He praised the PM for visiting the city cutting short his London trip in this times of crisis.

Meanwhile, the death toll in oil tanker tragedy in Ahmedpur East has risen to 152 while condition of 40 injured persons is critical.

Pakistan began Eid in mourning Monday as the death toll in an oil tanker explosion rose to 152, with scores injured after they were caught in a fireball while scooping up spilled fuel.

Dozens of relatives were waiting outside hospitals in Bahawalpur, the nearest major city, to claim the bodies of their loved ones as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif arrived early Monday.

The explosion ignited early Sunday as crowds ignored warnings to stay away from the tanker which had overturned on a main highway from Karachi to Lahore, spilling some 40,000 litres of fuel.

PM promises ‘complete inquiry’ into Bahawalpur… by arynews