Highway carnage claims 11 lives in a day

As effective traffic regulation and safer road conditions remain elusive on highways and roads across much of Sindh, two separate accidents claimed 11 lives in Naushahro Feroze and Shaheed Benazirabad districts on Sunday. In the deadliest of the two accidents, a truck crushed a car carrying a family travelling from a village in Naushahro Feroze to Hyderabad for medical treatment, killing five people, including a 45-year-old woman, her 26-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter. The victims were identified as Parveen Rajpar, her son Noshad, daughter Salma, Rafique Ahmed Rajpar, 46, and the car's driver, Asif Rajpar, 32. The force of the collision left the car completely mangled, trapping the bodies inside for nearly two hours. The truck's front section also became lodged in cranes being used at the scene, forcing local traders to arrange additional cranes to cut through the wreckage and retrieve the bodies. The bodies were taken to the district headquarters hospital for medico-legal formalities before being transported to Ahmed Khan Rajpar village, where the family was buried. Police said the truck driver and cleaner fled the scene after the crash, while the vehicle was impounded. No FIR had been registered by Sunday evening. Around 40 kilometres away, another fatal collision occurred on the National Highway near Shahpur Jahania, where six people travelling in a car were killed after it collided head-on with a truck. Police said the car's tyre burst, causing the driver to lose control and crash into the oncoming truck. Five people died at the scene, while an injured passenger later succumbed to injuries in hospital. The two crashes occurred on sections of the National Highway where repair work has been under way for months, highlighting continuing concerns over road conditions and traffic management on the busy route. Two cops injured Two policemen were injured in an encounter with suspected outlaws in Larkana district. The police spokesman informed that the constables Ali Zeb and Aashiq Ali were conducting snap checking when three suspects riding on a motorbike opened fire as they tried to escape.