BackA complete report of the accident captioned “Cognizance of Tragic Incident of Death of 57 persons in Bus-Truck Accident” has been published. It has been finalised on the taking of Suo Moto notice of the incident by the Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan, Salman Faruqui.
A tragic accident took place between a Karachi-bound bus coming from Swat and a truck near Khairpur Sindh in the early hours of Tuesday, November 11, 2014. It claimed the lives of 57 passengers including the driver and injuries to 21 others. Federal Ombudsman of Pakistan, Salman Faruqui took Suo Moto notice of the issue and constituted an inquiry committee to probe into the causes leading to the fatal accident, to fix responsibility and to make recommendations to avert the possibility of recurrence.
The inquiry committee found that criminal negligence and dereliction of duty by not ensuring that signs/reflectors were placed on the road at the correct spots by the concerned contractor to warn drivers of a dangerous hump on the road stood established on the part of the National Highway Authority (NHA) and National Highway and Motorway Police. The bus hit the hump on the road which was created as a roadblock to divert traffic. The sudden impact of hitting the hump caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle and the bus ended up on the northern side of the road where it collided with a truck.
Penalties recommended by the committee the contractor being blacklisted, a Compensation to the tune of Rs.200,000 to the family of each deceased person and Rs.100,000 to each injured passenger to be granted as well as Disciplinary action be taken against all officials involved.
Additionally, Remedial measures and recommendations to avert the possibility of such accidents have also been made. The media should raise public awareness of the importance of compliance with legislation; Speed laws should specify a maximum urban speed limit and Road planners have to adopt effective traffic management measures. Also, Health agencies have to ensure the development of effective emergency medical services and Road engineers and highway authorities shall improve the safety performance of the road network. The recommendations also suggest that the training of the drivers should develop a high standard of driver training, instruction and professionalism. In order to help to avoid a fast deterioration of the road network, a strict implementation of the Axle load Management Regime has to be enforced. Finally, a monitoring authority for motorways and highways may be established, equipped with the mandate to ensure that internationally accepted bare minimum quality standards are implemented.
In case of further interest, the entire report can be downloaded below.
Source: Office of the Federal Ombudsman, Islamabad, Pakistan
