Six killed, 50 injured in bus accident in Pakistan's Punjab province
Lahore (PTI): An overloaded speeding bus carrying Christian pilgrims for a religious gathering overturned while taking a turn in Pakistan's Punjab province on Sunday, killing at least six people and injuring 50 others.
The accident took place in Sheikhupura, some 50 km from Lahore.
According to rescue officials, the bus was carrying Christian pilgrims to the religious gathering at the National Marian Shrine in Mariamabad when it overturned while taking a turn at Khanka Dogran, Shiekhupura.
Police and rescue officials reached the spot and shifted the injured to the hospital. They said that six passengers died on the spot while the condition of five is stated to be critical.
The officials said the bus carrying 60 passengers was overloaded.
They said that the driver lost control of the speeding vehicle while negotiating a turn.
Punjab's caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed grief over the loss of life in the accident and directed health authorities to provide the best treatment to the injured.
The National Marian Shrine in Mariamabad has been the site of an annual pilgrimage for the feast of the Nativity of Mary since 1949.
Mariamabad is also known as the 'City of Mary.'
Road accidents are common in Pakistan and claim numerous lives on a daily basis.
In August, 18 people were killed and 16 others injured when a passenger bus caught fire in Pakistan's Punjab province after colliding with a pick-up van carrying a fuel tank.
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Mumbai family deaths: FDA finds no watermelon vendor in area to check for affected stock
Mumbai (PTI): The Food and Drug Administration team probing the cause of death of four members of a family in south Mumbai's JJ Marg area have not been able to zero in on any watermelon vendor in the vicinity to check if the fruit had a role to play in the ill-fated incident, an official said on Thursday.
The Dokadia family, residents of Ghari Mohalla on Ismail Kurte Road, had hosted a get-together of relatives on the night of April 25. At around 1 am, hours after the guests had left, Abdullah Dokadia (40), his wife Nasreen (35), and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zaineb (13) ate pieces of a watermelon.
They suffered severe bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea in the early hours of April 26 and were rushed to a local hospital before being referred to the government-run J J Hospital where all four died during treatment.
"The FDA team visited the house of Dokadia and collected samples of chicken pulao and watermelon pieces. After two days, the leftover chicken pulao had developed fungus growth. The team also tried to locate watermelon vendors to check for any affected lots," he said.
But no vendors were found in the area for the past two days, preventing the FDA team from getting samples, the official added.
The FDA has requested the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to share the report on the food samples collected by them, he added.
A senior Mumbai police official said the force is waiting for FSL reports in the case, adding that questions on presence of sedatives etc in the fruit could be answered only then.
The statements of the kin of the deceased are being recorded to ascertain if it is a case of mass suicide, and it is being checked if the Dokadia family were in debt or distressed over some issue, the police official said.
