6. A Roadside Accident
Roadside accidents have become very common occurrences of the present day life. The newspapers daily carry tragic news of fatal accidents. These are, no doubt, the gift of the modern advanced civilization. The modern age has given us fast modes of transport which have not only made the journey fast and easy but has also increased the ratio of horrible accidents. These accidents occur due to the careless and reckless driving of the unlettered and untrained drivers, bad condition of roads, narrow and risky turnings, violation of traffic rules and corruption in the traffic police. They take a heavy toll of lives rendering many others crippled for life and cause huge loss to property. I also happened to be an unfortunate witness to such a fatal accident.
Last month, I had to head for Multan. Reaching the coach terminal, I got into a long queue awaiting tickets. Luckily, I got air-conditioned automobile with comfortable seat as the biggest advantage. The coach was full to its capacity. All the passengers were in gay mood and were chatting happily. The driver did not seem veteran of the Pakistani highways. His overtaking seemed hesitant and his moves a bit reckless. However being passengers, none of us deemed it proper to give him any sort of instruction. When we were only ten miles from the city, we met an unexpected horrible accident.
A car overtook our bus and vanished in a flash. It raised clouds of dust. The bus driver was in a carefree mood. A truck was coming from the opposite direction. The bus and the truck driver could see nothing in the thick clouds of dust. The next moment, there was head on collision. After colliding against the truck, the bus struck against a cart standing on the roadside. Then it crushed a cyclist and turned turtle into a ditch.
The accident was very horrible and fatal in its nature. Most of the screens of the bus were broken. Most of the passengers received severe injuries and were bleeding. It was a tragic scene. There was a great hue and cry. The pick-pockets availed themselves of the opportunity and robbed most of the passengers of their money and valuables. Every passenger was in a hurry to get out of the bus. In this rush, a few women and children were crushed to death. I also got skin injuries. But I did not care for my injuries and began to help the people.
The cart driver and cyclist were crushed to death. Bot of them belonged to the neighboring village. Many people in the vicinities reached there for our rescue. They also began to pull the dead and the injured out of the bus. That was great moaning and crying, sobbing and sighing with very few to console. The bus driver had joined the majority on the spot. The conductor and the helper succeeded in escaping leaving the injured at the mercy of Allah. Someone contacted the rescue 1122 on the mobile. A police party with a doctor reached there in five minutes. The doctor began to give first aid to the injured. Most of the injured were advised to shift to the hospital.
The tragic sight of a woman passenger filled me with pity and horror. She was widow with only one son of five years who had joined the majority. His lifeless pure, innocent body lay on the ground bathed in the pool of blood. The woman was raising loud screams and calling to her son with his nickname. She was beseeching her son to talk to her once and only once in life. But he was past all these cries and sympathies. It was a heart-rending sight. The poor widow lost her senses. She was put in the ambulance and taken to the hospital. The cries of the woman still echo in my ears.
I saw the police recording the statements of the eye-witnesses of the fatal accident. I postponed my programme of heading for Multan, boarded another bus and returned home sadder than ever before. I shall never be able to forget what I had witnessed especially the poor widow with her dead son. The terrible incident has left a dreadfully awful influence on my mind which will haunt me for long.
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