ON THE OCCASION OF EID-UL-FITR, BAHAWALPUR'S ATMOSPHERE BECAME MOURN, SAD & SCARY DUE TO TRAGEDY OF OIL TANKER EXPLOSION.

 

 

 

 

ON THE OCCASION OF EID-UL-FITR, BAHAWALPUR'S ATMOSPHERE BECAME MOURN, SAD & SCARY DUE TO TRAGEDY OF OIL TANKER EXPLOSION.

DUE TO LACK OF BURN UNIT AT BAHAWAL VICTORIA HOSPITAL BAHAWALPUR  -  HEAVY CASUALTIES TRANSPORTED TO NISHTER HOSPITAL MULTAN BURN UNIT VIA ARMY HELICOPTERS.

PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER MIAN SHAHBAZ SAHRIF  TOOK NOTICE OF THE INCIDENT IMMEDIATELY & REACHED BAHAWALPUR VICTORIA HOSPITAL & NISHTER HOSPITAL MULTAN BURN UNIT  TO CONDOLE THE LOSS OVER EXPLOSION.

PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ SHARIF ALSO CUT HIS VISIT OF LONDON  TRIP TO CONDOLE OVER THE OIL TANKER DISASTERS/EXPLOSION.

Today dear readers,  I am writing & sharing this column with you very painfully which is already known by everybody very sad and painful but based on reality:- 

Exact before one day of Eid-ul-Fitr, the day of small resurrection was established at Ahmed Pur East on Main Highway on Sunday morning of 25th June 2017 due to the explosion in an Oil Tanker. 

The horrific early morning tragedy came hours before Pakistan was due to begin Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations marking the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. 

The tanker approximately 25,000 litres of fuel was carrying and overturned on a main highway while traveling from Karachi to Lahore, near the town of Ahmedpur East in Punjab province.  

Details were sketchy but some witnesses suggested the tanker had suffered a burst tyre, When it turned over and fell down on earth and fuel started leaking on earth then suddenly residents of the nearby villages rushed to the site with thie buckets, water coolers, water cans, karhais, and other containers of their kitchen items, and a large number of people on motorcycles and cycles and even footsteps  also came and started collecting the leaking fuel,  after about 10 minutes the tanker exploded in a huge fireball and enveloped the people collecting petrol and it was not clear how the fire started.

The charred wreckage of dozens of motorcycles and cars was scattered on the highway, along with kitchen utensils, pots, water coolers, jerrycans and buckets which victims had brought to collect the petrol. Dozens of villagers and relatives of victims looked on from nearby farmland, many of them weeping. "What kind of ill-fated day is today?” one woman asked tearfully. Villagers told that many of the victims had been related to each other.  Due to this tragedy approximately 125 people were killed on the spot.  A minor greed took people into the valley of death due to the inflation in country they thought that they should store plenty of petrol/fuel in their houses through their household resources.

But,  immediately after this tragic explosion the rescue operation started by Govt., Pak Army,  Edhi, Al-Khidmat Foundation infact whole nation became combined/united to deal with  this critical situation. Victoria Hospital Bahawalpur & Civil Hospital Bahawalpur declared emergency and all the doctors and other para medical staff was high alert and called on emergency duties immediately.  Unfortunately due to lack of burn unit in Bahawal Victoria Hospital  Bahawal pur heavy injureds were shifted to Nishtar Hospital Multan by Army  Helicopters.

The Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the incident and reached immediately Bahawalpur and visit  Victoria Hospital to see the victims and enquire over the sad incident from the high officials but immediately  Prime Minister of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif cut his trip to London short and  reached Ahmad Pur Sharkiya by helicopter before noon & join Punjab's Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other provincial officials in condoling the horrific accident that had shocked the nation a day earlier.  The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa ordered the army to assist the civil administration in the rescue efforts. Army helicopters were already used to transport injured people from Bahawalpur to Nishtar Hospital in Multan.COAS expresses grief on losses in oil tanker incident. 

In the end,  here I want to say  that In this sorrowful time I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the grieved families.  

May Allah rest the departed souls in peace and keep their souls into the Garden of  Eden and  I empathised with the pain of those who injured and those who had lost their loved ones in the incident (ameen).

انا لله و انا اليه راجعون...