At least 62 people, including women and children, were killed in Pakistan’s Karachi city on Sunday when their bus crashed into an oil tanker, igniting a fierce blaze at Super Highway.
At least 62 people, including women and children, were killed in Pakistan’s Karachi city on Sunday when their bus crashed into an oil tanker, igniting a fierce blaze at Super Highway.
Official said the death toll could rise, with most of the bodies burnt beyond recognition. Initial reports said the oil tanker was travelling in the wrong direction along the dilapidated stretch of road. Eight people from one family also lost their lives in the accident. “We have received 62 dead bodies but the death toll may rise as most of them are completely burnt and stuck to each other,” a doctor at the Karachi’s Jinnah hospital said. She said the bodies of at least six children were stuck to women who may have been their mothers, adding it was impossible to separate the remains. “They are beyond recognition, they can only be identified by DNA test,” she added.
The overloaded bus, carrying more than 60 passengers, was en route to the town of Shikarpur from Karachi when the collision occurred. Television channels showed live footage from the fiery crash site where rescue workers were busily evacuating dead bodies and any injured.
A few passengers escaped unhurt after they jumped out of the bus windows, a police official said. It was the second major fatal crash in Sindh province in less than three months.
Earlier in November 2014, 57 people, including 18 children, were killed when a bus collided with a goods truck loaded with coal.
