MULTAN/ BAHAWALPUR: The inquiry into the Bahawalpur oil tanker fire tragedy ordered by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday will need to look into questions regarding disaster response protocols as Dawn has learnt that a Motorway Police patrol mobile had chanced upon the overturned oil tanker at around 6:20am during routine patrolling, and despite repeated phone calls to the police, the SHO arrived at around 6:50am, after the explosion had occurred.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met the victims of the tragedy on Monday and told reporters that the government would provide jobs to those who were injured in the explosion and relatives of the affected families.

He vowed that the incident would be thoroughly investigated and those found guilty of dereliction of duty would be punished. He said, “We have to look at the condition of the tanker.”

The prime minister agreed with the opinion expressed by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif that illiteracy and poverty were at the root of such tragedies.

Sources in the Motorway Police said there were rumours that their department would bear the brunt of responsibility of the incident while the Punjab police would get a clean chit.

Speaking to Dawn, Motorway Police Spokesperson Syed Imran Ahmed Shah said, “Police and the fire brigade were informed about the overturned oil tanker at 6:22am while Rescue-1122 was called at 6:23am. No one had informed the Motorway Police about the incident and patrol mobile arrived at the spot at 6:20am during routine patrolling.”

In the meantime, Motorway policemen Taqqi Haider and Muhammad Irfan, along with the driver of the oil tanker, tried to stop people from gathering around the overturned vehicle. They also used the public address system to order them to vacate the site.

In his statement recorded before the police shortly before he passed away on Wednesday, Gul Muhammad, the driver, confirmed that he had tried his best to stop people from gathering around the oil tanker but no one had paid attention.

Several calls were made to the police over the telephone and the wireless but they did not arrive on time, said the spokesperson.

Motorway Police sources said at the time of the incident, the patrol mobile and a collection unit staff had placed traffic safety cones around the tanker and then left in order to divert traffic to another side, some 700 metres away from where the oil tanker had overturned.

They said the motorway policemen had asked the collection unit staff to inform the police and keep the growing swell of people from nearby villages away from the oil tanker. Barely 15-20 per cent of the fuel had leaked by this time.

Rahim Yar Khan District Police Officer Zeshan Asghar, however, claimed that the police were informed at 6:38am. “When the SHO arrived at the spot at 6:50am, the blast had already occurred,” he added.

This is an issue between the Motorway and Punjab police, Ahmadpur East Assistant Commissioner Abdul Rauf Mahar said. The civil administration was informed about the incident after the blast had occurred and it had nothing to do with the matter, he stressed. However, he added, the police were supposed to disperse the crowd in such a situation.

According to All Pakistan Oil Tankers Owner Association chairman Mir Muhammad Yousaf Shahwani, each oil tanker has two drivers and a helper, and the drivers have to sign an invoice before leaving the depot. Because of Eid, however, the drivers had decided to suspend the rules so they could be with their families.

Gul Muhammad had offloaded the second driver and helper before he arrived in Ahmedpur East so they could celebrate Eid with their families. He had on docking the oil tanker in Vehari so he could join his own family.

Sources in the Motorway Police said the tanker had turned over after a sleep-deprived Gul Muhammad dozed off while driving the vehicle.

“It was the responsibility of the civil administration and the police to control and disperse the mob, but neither the civil administration nor police officers arrived at the spot in time...now the responsibility is being shifted onto the tanker’s owner and driver,” Mr Shahwani said.

Burial and compensation

The death toll of the oil tanker explosion on Wednesday rose to at least 164, and 125 bodies were marked and placed in a mass grave temporarily at the Nazir Shah graveyard, near the site of the tragedy, till the bodies are identified through DNA tests.

Assistant Commissioner Mahar, who was in-charge of the burial arrangements at Nazir Shah, clarified that the victims had been buried temporarily till the results of the DNA tests were ready. He added that the wooden boxes the bodies had been placed in were tagged and numbered carefully. After receiving the DNA test results, the administration will exhume the bodies and hand them over to their relatives, he said.

Earlier, 25 bodies, which had been identified, were handed over to their families for burial.

The administration had decided to bury the victims temporarily as the Bahawal Victoria Hospital’s cold storage lacked the capacity to keep so many bodies at a time.

On behalf of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, several lawmakers distributed cheques of Rs2 million each to the families of 26 victims who had been identified, at a ceremony at the Circuit House on Wednesday. On Eid Day, the prime minister distributed Rs1m among the injured at Bahawal Victoria Hospital.

“No amount can compensate the loss of a life, but we can support the affected people,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2017