Pak: FIR filed against bus driver, owner in Kallar Kahar bus accident that killed 13

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 19 : A complaint has been filed against the bus driver and its owner in the bus accident case that killed 13 people on the Islamabad-Lahore motorway near Pakistan's Punjab province on Saturday, Dawn reported.

The accident which occurred at Kallar Kahar town in Punjab province of Pakistan also injured more than 20 people.

The first information report (FIR), a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, was submitted on Saturday night at the Kallar Kahar police station by Motorway Police Officer Muhammad Bilal.

A bus crashed into the ground yesterday on the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway's opposing lane, not far from Kallar Kahar.

It ascribes blame for the accident to the bus driver, bus owner, management of the Rawalpindi station (where the bus left from), manager of the bus company's station, and the motor vehicle examiner.

The Pakistan Penal Code is referred to in this case, specifically sections 322, 337G (punishment for hurt by rash or negligent driving), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), and 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted committed In consequence and where there is no express provision for its punishment), Dawn news reported.

According to the official's complaint, at about 3:14 p.m., while going about his regular business at N-225, he received a notification that a bus with the Shalimar Transport Service's registration number BSG-055 had been involved in an accident.

Arriving at the scene, the complainant discovered that Farhat Abbas Shah, the bus driver, had "lost control of the bus," causing it to "break the crash barrier" and topple.

According to the FIR, 32 other people were hurt and were subsequently transported to the Kallar Kahar Trauma Centre by ambulances from Rescue 1122, Hascol Petroleum, and the Frontier Works Organisation. The complaint said that the survivors claimed the vehicle was "not fully fit" as it was leaving the Rawalpindi bus station after being questioned about this, reported Dawn.

The passenger bus was involved in a collision at the Kallar Kahar salt range while travelling from Rawalpindi to Lahore, according to the highway police. According to local media reports, the accident happened when the breaks failed, the authorities said.

Police and Rescue 1122 officers arrived on the scene as soon as they were notified and transported the injured and dead to the hospital.