125 victims of Bahawalpur oil tanker inferno laid to rest
June 27, 2017
BAHAWALPUR: The bodies of 125 victims of Bahawalpur oil tanker fire, who are yet to be identified through DNA tests, were laid to rest in Ramzan Joiya village, Ahmed Pur East, on Tuesday evening.
The relatives of the victims and a huge number of locals offered combined funeral prayers of the deceased, after 125 bodies were brought to Ramzan Joiya village from Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH).
Residents made arrangements for prayers and dug up 200 graves in Nazirabad graveyard.
The funeral prayers were held at a cotton factory close to the grave site.
Around 1,000 security personnel were deployed at the site of prayers, to prevent any untoward incident.
Earlier, BVH emergency services director, Amir Bukhari, said bodies of 24 victims had been handed over to the families of the deceased after their successful identification.
He said that a total of 125 bodies could not be identified.
“The DNA samples of the remaining bodies have been taken to help in their identification and the process could take 9-10 days,” Bukhari said.
Locals also complained of no help from the government in the digging of graves, saying they faced difficulty in acquiring necessary tools, structural material as the markets are closed owing to Eid.
Death toll reaches 162
Meanwhile, the death toll from the tragic incident rose to 162 on Tuesday evening, after another injured of the incident succumbed to his wounds.
According to health sources, 126 people were killed on the spot, while 32 died later during treatment within two days after the crashed oil tanker caught fire Sunday morning in Bahawalpur’s Ahmedpur East tehsil.
Oil tanker driver surrenders to police
The police also registered a case against the driver, owner and manager of the oil tanker.
Following the registration of the case at Saddar police station, the driver surrendered himself to the police after which he was taken to an undisclosed location for questioning. The driver has been identified as Gul Mohammad.
PM, Punjab CM, COAS visit injured persons
On Monday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also announced to hold an inquiry into the incident and declared that the government has made a policy decision to provide jobs to the injured as well as family members of the deceased.
The premier, alongside Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif, was holding a press conference during a visit to the site of the accident.
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also visited those injured in the tragedy at Nishtar Hospital, Multan on Monday.
Pakistan has an appalling record of fatal traffic accidents due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
At least 62 people including women and children were killed in Karachi in 2015 when their bus collided with an oil tanker, starting a fierce blaze that left victims burnt beyond recognition.
