CHINIOT: Four passengers were burnt alive and nine others suffered burns when a van caught fire after the CNG cylinder fitted in it exploded in an accident on Faisalabad Road.

According to Rescue 1122 sources, a van going from Sargodha to Chiniot collided head on with a car on Faisalabad Road near Abdullah Fibres Mills, some five kilometres from here.

After the collision, the CNG cylinder fitted in the van exploded turning the vehicle into a fireball.

On being alened, a Rescue 1122 ambulance reached the spot and the rescuers pulled out the passengers, four of them burnt alive and nine others with severe burns.

According to witnesses, the dead bodies were burnt beyond recognition. The injured included Nazar his wife Lubna and his sons Abdullah and Haris, residents of Islam Nigar, Faisalabad. Others identified as Iqra, of Chiniot, Asif Ali, of Jeewan Shah village, Zawar Hussain, of Bhowana town, Shahida of Ghafoor Abad Mohallah and Fouzia of Chenab Nagar town.

The injured were shifted to the Chiniot District Headquarters Hospital and Allied Hospital, Faisalabad.

Chiniot Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Ayub Khan and District Police Officer (DPO) Mustansar Feroz reached the spot and supervised the rescue activities.

MPA Maulana llyas Chinioti, who also reached the spot, said Chiniot-Faisalabad highway was a busy road that needed to be converted into dual carriage way to avoid such accidents.

He said though the funds for the project had been allocated a couple of years ago, Punjab government did not stahed work on it.