QUETTA: A Portuguese biker, who was on a world tour along with two German nationals, was killed on Thursday in a fatal road accident in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province through Iran border.
Nonu Miguel Vilao Castanheria, 28, announced in March he would cover 85,000 kilometers on his motorbike traveling from Portugal to Australia to Middle East and Southeast Asia. The Portuguese began his journey in May along with Germany’s Tony Pankraz Linder and Nikolas Lang.
The three riders crossed into Pakistan via Iran on Thursday afternoon, en-route from Turkiye, but a speeding pick-up truck hit Castanheria’s bike in the Pakistani border city of Dalbandin when they were headed to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province.
Hussain Jan Baloch, deputy commissioner of the Chaghi district, said the Portuguese national was shifted to hospital, but he succumbed to the fatal wounds.
“The foreign tourist entered through Iran and he was traveling to Quetta when his motorbike was rammed by a speedy Zamyad vehicle near Dalbandin,” Baloch told Arab News, using a local term for pick-up trucks used for smuggling Iranian fuel and other goods into Pakistan.
“The Levies force shifted him to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Dalbandin in critical condition where he succumbed to his injuries.”
Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province borders Afghanistan to the north, Iran to the west and has a long coastline along the Arabian Sea. A number of border cities and villages in Balochistan have been infamous for illegal human trafficking and smuggling of goods into Pakistan from Iran and Afghanistan.
Smugglers mostly use pick-up trucks, locally known as Zamyad vehicles, to smuggle the Iranian fuel, fertilizer and sugar through Pakistan’s porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, with drivers often speeding on their way to avoid being caught by the Pakistani security forces.
Baloch said they had detained the driver and his assistant who hit the Portuguese biker and lodged a case against them.
“The body of the Portuguese tourist has been shifted to Quetta because we didn’t have a mortuary in Dalbandin and we have informed the Portuguese embassy regarding the death,” he said.
The deceased foreigner had posted his last picture on Instagram five days ago in which he is seen sitting on his motorbike in a deserted area in Iran.
“One of the most amazing experiences I’ve had so far on this trip,” he said. “It’s amazing to watch the sand dunes and I hope one day I will be able to properly ride them.”
A paramilitary Levies soldier, who requested anonymity, told Arab News the vehicle that hit the Portuguese was carrying smuggled sugar to Afghanistan from Pakistan.
“The speedy vehicle hit foreign tourist from the front and overturned itself,” he said.
