5 men in their 20s die as speeding car hits divider, catches fire in Multan

Five men in their 20s were killed when their car crashed into a roadside wall and caught fire on Bosan Road in Multan early Monday, Rescue 1122 said.

The victims, all residents of Shujaabad, were travelling in a Toyota Corolla when the vehicle struck a road divider at around 4am before hitting the wall of a nearby plot, according to the police report.

A passerby alerted the emergency service at 4:15am. Rescue 1122 said all five occupants suffered severe injuries and died at the scene.

Three of the deceased were identified as men aged 22, 23 and 28, while the other two were estimated to be around 24 or 25 years old. All five had sustained head injuries, the rescue service said.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control, and rescue personnel later transported the bodies to Nishtar Hospital in Multan.

The incident comes amid a high number of road accidents in Punjab. Rescue 1122 recorded 43,160 traffic crashes across the province in May, leaving 23,013 people seriously injured and 434 dead.