MUZAFFARGARH: Four men died, while 27 others were injured seriously when a bus carrying pilgrims to the shrine of Sufi saint and Punjabi poet Hazrat Sultan Bahu in Jhang rammed into a tree near Rangpur, some 35 kilometres from here, on Friday.

As per Rescue 1122 officials, the bus carrying 45 pilgrims from Vehari district was on its way to the shrine of Hazrat Sultan Bahu when it rammed into a tree on the roadside near Rangpur.

As a result, four of the passengers identified as Mohammed Hussain, Zulfiqar, Ahmed Raza and Abdul Ghaffar, died on the spot, while 27 others were injured.

On being informed of the accident, teams of Rescue 1122 reached the spot and shifted the injured people to different nearby hospitals. Of the injured persons, 13 were shifted to Rangpur Rural Health Centre (RHC) and Ahmedpur Sial THQ Hospital.

The bodies were also moved to Rangpur RHC.

As per sources, sevenother injured persons also reached the Ahmedpur Sial THQ Hospital on their own.

Following the accident, the traffic on the Rangpur Road remained suspended and was later cleared by police.

SMUGGLED PETROL SEIZED: Police and civil defence teams in a joint operation claimed to have seized more than 42,000 litres of non-custom paid petrol in an operation in Muzaffargarh district.

As per officials, the Mahmood Kot Police Station SHO, along with officials of the civil defence department, seized 42,000 litres of smuggled petrol in an operation and registered three cases against the smugglers.

The district police officer said the seized petrol was handed over to the customs authorities.

YOUTH DROWNS: A 17-year-old youth allegedly drowned in a swimming pool near Fatehpur Pir Chhatar Sharif on Friday.

As per police, Majid Bilal of Chak 244-TDA Layyah, went for swimming at the pool where he allegedly drowned.

The body has been shifted to Layyah Tehsil Headquarters Hospital and the police are investigating the matter.

Local sources say there are no safety equipment at the pool.