11 die as bus collides with truck

Islamabad At least 11 people were killed and 33 injured when a passenger bus collided with a truck near Pakpattan in Pakistan’s Punjab province, according to media reports on Friday. The bus was travelling from Multan to Kasur when it hit an oncoming truck on Depalpur Road, the district administration said in a statement. Rescue 1122 said 11 people died at the scene. Eight others suffered minor injuries, while 25 were taken to hospitals in Pakpattan for treatment, Dawn reported. Emergency workers spent three hours freeing people trapped in the wreckage. Cranes and other heavy machinery were brought in to help rescuers reach the victims. The collision comes against a pattern of road accidents across Punjab. Figures presented at a Rescue 1122 review showed that 464 people died and 23,543 suffered serious injuries in 44,797 road crashes during October. Nearly three quarters of those incidents involved motorcycles, according to reports citing rescue officials. Lahore recorded the highest number of crashes, with 7,874 incidents. Multan reported 2,838, followed by Faisalabad with 2,615 and Gujranwala with 2,092. Sheikhupura recorded 1,714 crashes, while Taunsa Sharif reported 142. The review also showed the pressure on emergency services beyond road accidents. Rescue teams handled 231,056 emergencies during October, including medical cases, fires and drownings, The Express Tribune reported. The Pakpattan crash adds another deadly incident to that record. The casualty figures underline the human cost of road accidents and the demands placed on Punjab’s emergency services