BAHAWALPUR: Five people, including three motorcyclists, were killed and 30 bus passengers were injured in separate road accidents in the last two days in the district.

The deceased included two drivers whose buses coming from the opposite directions on Karachi-Lahore highway had a head-on collision at Nazarwali Hatti near Uch Sharif, about 70km from here, on Sunday night. After the collision, the buses caught fire, injuring the passengers, including women and children.

Rescue 1122 officials at Ahmedpur East told Dawn that about 30 passengers suffered injuries and of them two were in serious condition at the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH). Other injured persons were shifted to the hospitals of Uch Sharif and Multan.

Uch Sharif police said investigation into the causes of the accident was in progress but the initial reports claimed the deceased drivers were busy talking on mobile phones which caused the collision.

In the second accident on Eid day, two motorcycles collided with each other at Chak 135/DB on Tailwala Road in Yazman tehsil, killing three of the riders on the spot and injuring a pillion who was shifted to the Bahawal Victoria Hospital .

According to police, both the deceased bikers were involved in a race. One of the deceased belonged to the Tailwala area while the remaining two belonged to the Noorpur area.

BUSTED: The officials of the Bahawalpur chapter of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA) claimed to have unearthed a factory involved in making cooking oil and ghee from intestines of the sacrificial animals.

The raiding team claimed to have disposed of several tins of fake ghee and registered a case against the factory owner, Afzal Qureshi, who managed to escape from his house in Mohallah Aam Khas.

Besides, the administration arrested 12 people for allegedly violating Section 144 regarding collection of hides of the sacrificial animals.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2017