DADU: Three more devotees of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar died from heatstroke on Monday as the mercury rose to 50 degrees Celsius in and around Sehwan town.

The victims were identified as Noor Ali Khan, 55, of Peshawar; Mushtaq, 50, of Dokri and a 23-year-old unidentified man.

Police collected the bodies from different parts of the town and handed them over to the Edhi centre.

According to Edhi centre in-charge Ghulam Sarwar, the total death toll of devotees in three- day Urs celebrations has reached 29 who died due to drowning in water, heatstroke and accidents.

Meanwhile, more than 20 devotees were injured when a coach overturned on the National Highway near Gambat on Monday morning.

They were on their way to Punjab after attending the annual Urs celebrations of Qal­a­ndar Lal Shahbaz in Sehwan when the tie rod of the coach broke and it overturned near Drib Mehar Shahin. The injured were taken to the government hospital in Gambat where 11 passengers were admitted while others were discharged after first-aid treatment.

According to reports, all of them were sitting on the rooftop of the coach. Some of the injured were identified as Khalid Hussain, Allah Rakhya, Mohammad Ashraf, Ilyas, Anwar Ali, Muharram Ali, Khadim Hussain and Ghulam Abbas.

The three-day 763rd annual Urs celebrations came to an end with Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah laying a chador on the grave of the Sufi saint on Monday.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2015

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