16 kids die as school van catches fire

Relatives of 16 children who died after a gas cylinder exploded on a school bus, mourn on the outskirts of Gujrat, 100 miles southeast of Islamabad, yesterday.

Agencies/Islamabad

Sixteen children and a teacher were killed when their school van caught fire in central Pakistan yesterday, police said.

Seven other children were injured in the blaze which destroyed the vehicle.

The van was carrying 24 children to a private school in Gujrat, about 112km north of the eastern city on Lahore, when it caught fire, local police chief Dar Ali Khattak said.

“The fire erupted in the vehicle when the children were only a few kilometres from their school,” he said.

A spokesman for the Edhi ambulance service said 16 children and a female teacher died, while seven pupils were injured.

A female student who escaped the vehicle by jumping out told Geo TV that there was a smell of petrol before the fire erupted.

“We asked the driver to stop and, as he slowed down, I jumped out of the vehicle,” she said without revealing her name. “Some other students also jumped out.”

“We saw fire inside the vehicle and tried to help the trapped students, but could not because the blaze spread fast.”

The blaze was apparently caused by a spark when the driver of the dual-fuel van switched from gas to petrol, he said, adding that the fuel gas cylinder was intact. The children were aged between five and 15 years old, he said, adding that a female teacher also died.

District police chief Dar Ali Khattak told media that police were investigating the cause of fire in the vehicle, which was fitted with a dual fuel system so it could alternately use petrol or compressed natural gas.

The driver, who fled and left the van in flames, has been arrested in the nearby city of Kharian, police official Abid Khan said.

Initial information said the driver had also kept petrol in a plastic bottle, as reserve fuel for emergency use, which may have contributed in intensifying the fire, he added.

The dead included three children of police constable Mohamed Riaz, and the dead teacher was their aunt, residents said, adding that thousands of people attended their funeral.

Five of the injured children were in serious condition, hospital officials said.

A doctor from Aziz Bhatti Shaheed hospital said most of the victims had severe burns.

Private Dunya TV said that about 25 people, mostly children, were on board. The television footage showed the bus completely burnt.

The channel also said that DNA tests are being carried out to know the identity of the victims, as most of them had been badly burnt.

Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso expressed sympathy for the families of the victims.

“He directed the authorities concerned to provide best medical care to those injured and all possible assistance to the bereaved families,” his office said in a statement.

Vehicles in Pakistan mostly run on both petrol and natural gas. Pakistan has one of the world’s worst records for fatal traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.