QUETTA: A speeding passenger van veered off a narrow road and fell into a ravine in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Wednesday, killing at least 22 passengers, including women and children, in Killa Saifullah district.
Motorway authorities in Balochistan say between 6,000-8,000 people die each year in accidents on single-lane roads nicknamed “killer highways” that spread over thousands of miles in the impoverished province.
Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads in many rural areas are in poor condition.
According to local officials, the van carrying passengers from Loralai district to Zhob city met the accident at 8:30 am in the Akhtarzai Adola area.
Deputy Commissioner of Killah Saifullah Hafiz Qasim Kakar told Arab News over the phone it took three hours to retrieve the bodies from the wreckage due to the mountainous terrain which were later shifted to the District Headquarter Hospital for medicolegal procedure.
“The driver took a shortcut by steering the passenger van to an infrequent route,” he said. “We have started investigating the causes of the fatal accident and will try to figure out if it was caused by speeding or some mechanical failure.”
Kakar informed the initial investigations had suggested the driver could have geared up to reach his destination ahead of his usual schedule.
Medical superintendent of the District Headquarter Hospital Dr. Sheikh Akhtar Mandokhail said officials received 22 bodies of 12 men, five women and five children that were later handed over to bereaved families after medicolegal procedure.
“A critically injured child has been referred to Quetta for better medical care,” he told Arab News.
Muhammad Qasim, who lost eight relatives in the tragic incident, said his family members were scheduled to travel to Kolachi village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after arriving in Zhob.
“They were carrying a woman for her delivery to the village, but she was also killed in the accident,” he said. “We have lost eight family members including three women and four children.”
