Truck hits schoolbus in Pakistan: 17 children dead

[January 15, 2014]  By Syed Raza Hassan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) — A truck slammed into a bus bringing schoolchildren home from an outing in southern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 17 pupils and three adults, police said.

"It was a head-on collision when the truck slammed into the school van on a single track dirt road. Apparently, speeding and recklessness resulted in the accident," Abdul Rahim Gopang, a police officer, said by telephone from near the accident.

The collision occurred in southern Sindh province, about 300 km (180 miles) north of the provincial capital Karachi.

Television channels showed footage of parents running into a hospital in the nearby town of Nawab Shah, frantically looking for their children, aged 10 to 16.

"All our dreams have been shattered. How can I live without my child," a weeping Muhammad Akram, who lost his only son in the accident, said by telephone from the hospital.

Eleven children were injured and being treated in hospital, said Sindh's Information Minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon.

Appeals for blood donations for the injured were issued from the loudspeakers of mosques, local television channels said.

Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely enforced and roads in many rural areas are poor.

(Additional reporting by Asim Tanveer in Multan, Pakistan; editing by Ron Popeski)

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