At least 18 passengers have been burned to death and another 14 injured after a passenger bus caught fire following a collision with a van in Pakistan’s northeastern Punjab province on Sunday morning.
The accident occurred near Hafizabad district, some 124 kilometers from the provincial capital Lahore, where the ill-fated bus rammed the van carrying diesel drums on Sunday.
District police chief Fahad Ahmad told reporters that the charred bodies of at least 18 passengers were taken out of the bus, while the injured, four of them critical, were shifted to a hospital.
The bus was carrying 40 to 50 passengers from the port city of Karachi to the capital Islamabad.
Drivers dead
The drivers of both vehicles were also killed in the accident, Ahmad added.
Footage aired on local broadcaster Geo News showed the completely charred bus lying in the middle of the road.
Road accidents are common in Pakistan, owing primarily to lax safety standards and inadequate infrastructure.
