Road accidents kill 12 in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province

Residents gather around the accident site in Balochistan’s Sibi on October 29, 2024. (Photo courtesy: Rescue 1122)

• Three accidents were reported in Balochistan’s Sibi, Washuk, and Chaghi districts, injuring several people
• Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan due to dilapidated infrastructure and reckless driving

QUETTA: At least 12 people were killed and several others injured in three deadly road accidents in Pakistan’s impoverished southwestern Balochistan province on Tuesday, according to government officials.
Fatal accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads, particularly in rural and mountainous areas, are in poor condition. Such incidents are frequent in Balochistan, where single-carriage roads connect various cities, and even some highways lack modern safety features.
Speaking to Arab News about the first incident, Assistant Commissioner of Sibi Mansoor Ali Shah confirmed that a Jacobabad-bound passenger van from Quetta collided with a truck, resulting in fatalities and injuries among the travelers.
“At least six people from various districts of Balochistan were killed and 13 injured in the incident,” Shah said over the phone. “The injured were shifted to nearby hospitals.”
He added that the crash occurred due to speeding, as the van driver was attempting to overtake another vehicle on the single-carriage Quetta-Sukkur highway.
Another incident occurred in the evening when two vehicles, locally known as Zambad, had a head-on collision while traveling in the mountainous Washuk district, resulting in the deaths of four people.
“One Zambad vehicle was carrying smuggled Iranian oil, while the other had only the driver when they collided near a mountainous area close to the Washuk-Panjgur district,” Assistant Commissioner Shahzad Zehri told Arab News.
“Fire broke out in both vehicles due to the smuggled Iranian oil, and the people onboard were burnt to death,” he continued, adding that the bodies had been shifted to a local hospital for medico-legal procedures and identification.
Blue-colored right-hand-drive Iranian Zamyads, locally known as Zambads, are frequently used for smuggling Iranian goods that enter Pakistan through various points along the 904-kilometer border between the two countries.
In the third accident, two people, including a woman, were killed after attending a wedding party. They were traveling in a vehicle that overturned due to speeding in Dak, an area in Chaghi district.
Assistant Commissioner of the region, Basit Buzdar, said seven people were on board the vehicle, which was coming from Nushki.
“Two people, including a woman, were killed, and five others were injured in the accident,” he told Arab News.
Buzdar added that the injured were shifted to Prince Fahad Hospital Dalbandin.
“The speeding vehicle overturned after the driver lost control on a muddy track along the Quetta-Taftan highway,” he said, sharing details of the accident.