12 killed in horrific collision on Indus Highway near KP's Karak

KARAK: At least a dozen people were killed, and several others were injured in a devastating traffic accident on the Indus Highway near Lakki Ghundaki in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Karak on Tuesday when a trailer collided head-on with a passenger van.

Initially, reports of 10 casualties along with eight injured were received. However, two of the critically wounded people succumbed to their injuries during the course of treatment.

Rescue officials, who reached the scene as soon as the incident was reported, said that the impact of the collision resulted in numerous passengers being trapped within the mangled wreckage of the van.

Rescue personnel were accompanied by locals who helped them with the rescue operations to extract the injured and bodies out of the vehicles' debris.

The bodies of 10 victims, reported initially, had been transported to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Karak, the rescue authorities said, adding that medical assistance was being provided to the individuals who sustained injuries in the collision.

Meanwhile, two of the four individuals who were seriously injured and had been shifted to Peshawar, died during treatment. 

The officer further revealed that all individuals involved in the accident belonged to Miran Shah.

Meanwhile, the police arrested the trailer driver in an injured condition, he added. 

Traffic accidents are not uncommon in Pakistan, as several lives are lost in similar mishaps regularly. At least 112 people were injured in different traffic accidents during the occasion of Eid ul Fitr in Punjab's Taunsa district, according to relevant authorities.

Notably, there has been a surge in traffic accidents in Karachi recently, with an alarming number of casualties. Higher authorities have been urged to take action following the rise in casualties.

On Sunday, two motorcyclists were killed after being hit by a trailer in the port city’s New Chali area in yet another fatal road tragedy.

The incident came just a day after a four-year-old boy was crushed to death by a speeding water tanker in Baldia Town. The child, Affan, had been playing near a local playground when he was run over. His uncle later claimed the tanker operators had illegally occupied the area.