CHINIOT: At least 17 passengers were burned to death and several others sustained acute burns injuries when their van collided head-on into a truck.
According to police sources, the ill-fated passenger van met the formidable accident near Tahirabad when it bumped into a dumper galloping from the opposite side.
The high-velocity crash caused the CNG cylinder installed in the van, to go off with a loud bang turning the van into a fireball that burned down at least 17 people to death and caused critical burns injuries to several others.
Bodies of the deceased and the injured have been shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Chiniot. Eight of the deceased have been identified; of them, four belong to a single family.
The van was plying from Rawalpindi to Jhang.
