LAHORE: Lahore’s first horrible accident at the 27km-long metro track left a woman dead and 15 others injured after two buses collided head-on near Dallukhurd station on Monday morning.

The injured passengers, most of them women, were shifted to the Lahore General Hospital, according to reports.

“When I was opening my shop at about 9.45pm or so, I heard a huge noise of buses collision and people crying at the scene. People who also witnessed the accident rushed to the spot and started taking the injured passengers out of the buses,” Nazir, a shopkeeper, told Dawn near the station.

The rescue teams reached the spot within 20 minutes of the accident and shifted the body of a 24-year-old woman and 15 injured passengers to the General Hospital. The woman was identified as Ammara Mobeen, of Kahna Nu.

The injured included Marium, Razia, Rehana, Ayesha, Waheed, Ghulam Fareed, Shahid and Mansoor.

Though there were reports that the accident took place after the driver of a bus coming from Gajjumata fell asleep, the Lahore administration said the cause of the accident would be determined after the injured drivers of both the buses became normal.

“Since drivers of both the buses received multiple injuries and are under treatment at the hospital, they are not in a position to record their statement,” Model Town Assistant Commissioner Mazhar Ali Sarwar told this reporter.

He said he talked to four injured passengers and tried hard to get something leading to causes behind the accident, but to no avail.

“One said the driver fell asleep and collided with the bus coming from the opposite direction. Another passenger said it was due to wrong crossing of the bus,” he quoted some minor injured passengers as having said.

“So in this situation we cannot find the cause behind the accident. That is why I have mentioned in my report that the cause of the accident will be determined later subject to availability of the drivers.” He said it would also be determined that the drivers were under rest or not.

On the other hand, the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) suspended the metro buses operation following the collision.

After shifting of the injured to hospital, joint teams of PMTA, city administration, traffic police, Rescue 1122 and Zonal Administration (Lahore Municipal Corporation) started working to remove the damaged buses from the route and ensure resumption of the bus operation.

Finally they succeeded in removing the buses from the site through cranes and shifted them to the depot near Yuhannabad station.

The deceased, Ammara, was reportedly a resident of Faisal Town (Kahna Nu) and a student of the University of Education (Jain Mandir Campus). She got the bus at Gajjumata and was going to the MAO college bus station from where she was to reach her campus.

“She was a student of Education University. And it is really a sad moment that she is no more,” Model Town SP Ali Waseem told Dawn. He said the body was handed over to the family after her parents refused to get her post-mortem conducted.

A number of neighbours gathered outside the house of the deceased. They urged the government to punish the drivers.

Later, the family of the deceased also got a case registered against the drivers of the buses for their negligence that led to such horrible accident. “On the application of the deceased’s brother, Junaid, we have registered a case against the drivers and the company,” the SP confirmed. He said the accident occurred due to negligence of the drivers who didn’t care while crossing at a narrow stretch near Dullo Khurd station.

Meanwhile, PMTA General Manager Ozair Shah said the authority had summoned the officials of the company responsible for smooth metro bus operations. “This is the first-ever accident since the launch of the metro bus operations in February 2013. But we are taking this matter very seriously by holding a detailed inquiry in this regard,” Mr Shah added. He said it was also being inquired that why an injured driver was shifted to the Jinah Hospital instead of Lahore General Hospital.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2019