Words fail to state one's shock and dismay over what that happened in Baluchistan on Monday. 27 people, including women and children, were burned to death - 19 of them on the spot and others in hospital - when the bus they were riding in collided with a truck. Nearly a dozen bodies were charred beyond recognition. According to reports, the appalling accident happened when the Panjgur-bound bus ran into a stationary truck near Lasbela and caught fire, destroying both vehicles. The unfortunate passengers had only a few seconds to come out from a single door. Only a few men, seated close to the door, could make it safely.
As is the standard practice after such horrendous disasters, Baluchistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan, in whose constituency the heartbreaking accident took place, issued a statement expressing 'deep grief and sorrow'. Also, he directed the district administration to provide the best medical treatment to the injured. Statements of sympathy are of little use unless backed by sincere efforts to address the underlying causes that lead to such incidents. It was a tragedy waiting to happen. As it turns out, the truck was loaded with smuggled Iranian oil which caught fire on impact. Transportation of smuggled Iranian oil has gone on all over the province for a long time in plain sight of the authorities concerned. It may be recalled that back in March 2014 as many as 35 people were similarly burned to death in the Hub area when two buses caught fire after colliding with truck carrying smuggled oil. In fact, buses are commonly seen, without a care for the inherent danger, carrying the illegal commodity on their top racks, even inside. The activity could not be carried out without the connivance of district administrations as well as provincial authorities. In the present instance what is worth noting, too, is that the ill-fated bus rammed into a motionless truck because, as some reports suggest, its brakes had failed. There is no check on public transportation vehicles for their road worthiness. Those responsible for the negligence need to be held to account.
The key responsibility for eliminating the ever-present danger to public lives lies squarely on the Chief Minister's shoulders. It may not be something doable for him to completely stop the smuggling of oil from Iran, but he can, and must, prevent its open transportation. He also needs to take notice of the fact that there was not a single facility in his home constituency or nearby to treat burns. The injured had to be taken all the way to a Karachi hospital. The provincial government needs to draw a lesson from the incident and better organize its affairs. First of all, it must to hold a transparent inquiry into the incident and make the findings public. No such tragedy should occur ever again.