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At least 36 people lost their lives in two separate bus accidents in Pakistan on Sunday, including 12 pilgrims who were on their way to Iran, according to rescue and police officials.
The first tragedy occurred near the town of Azad Pattan, situated on the border between Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. A bus carrying 24 passengers plunged into a ravine, resulting in the deaths of all on board. Local resident Tara Zafar, who rushed to the hospital after hearing about the incident, mourned the loss of her father, sister, and one-year-old nephew. “I hoped that at least one of them had survived. It’s doomsday for my family,” she told AFP.
Umar Farooq, a senior government official from Sudhanoti district, where the bus had begun its journey, confirmed that all 24 passengers perished in the crash. Before officials arrived at the scene, about 20 villagers volunteered to help retrieve the bodies from the ravine. “We carried the bodies out wrapped in shawls and scarves,” said Manazir Hussain, a 44-year-old retired army soldier who assisted with the recovery.
In a separate incident, 12 men died when their bus plunged into a ravine along the Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan. The bus, carrying pilgrims who had been turned back from the Iran border due to documentation issues, met its tragic end on a treacherous stretch of road known for its dangerous twists and turns. Aslam Bangulzai, a police official at the scene, reported that the driver had been speeding before the bus fell into the deep ravine.
The crash site was located in a remote, mountainous area about 100 kilometers from the nearest town of Uthal and 500 kilometers from the Iran border town of Pishin. An army crane was deployed to remove the bus from the ravine, and no additional bodies or survivors were found.
Hamood Ur Rehman, a senior government official from the nearby district of Gwadar, explained that the bus was carrying pilgrims en route to the Arbaeen pilgrimage but had been denied entry into Iran due to issues with their travel documents.
Road accidents with high fatalities are unfortunately common in Pakistan, where inadequate safety measures, poor driver training, and deteriorating transport infrastructure contribute to the frequency of such tragedies.
The day before these accidents, the bodies of 28 pilgrims who died in a bus crash in Iran were returned to Pakistan. That bus, which had been carrying 51 Pakistani pilgrims traveling through Iran to attend the Arbaeen commemoration in Iraq, overturned and caught fire in front of a checkpoint in Yazd province on Tuesday night, as reported by Iranian state TV.
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