The Uthal road accident on Friday killed twelve passengers and injured around 22 others when a minibus and a passenger coach collided head-on near Zero Point in Uthal on the Quetta-Karachi Highway in Balochistan, police said. The crash marks the second major fatal road accident in Pakistan within three days.
Police officials said the coach was travelling from Gwadar to Karachi while the minibus was heading to Karachi from Bela. The two vehicles hit each other near Bela in Uthal district, and most of the casualties occurred inside the minibus.
Rescue workers shift injured to Karachi
Seven passengers died on the spot, while five others succumbed to their injuries in hospital, the officials said. Around 22 injured passengers were shifted to a local hospital by Edhi workers before being moved to Karachi for treatment.
Abdul Hakeem Lasi, in-charge of the Edhi Centre in Bela, said seven of the injured were in serious condition. The injured were first brought to the Edhi facility in Bela and then transferred to Karachi hospitals, where their treatment is under way.
The Quetta-Karachi Highway is one of Balochistan’s busiest road links. It carries heavy passenger and cargo traffic between the port city of Gwadar, the provincial capital Quetta and Karachi. Head-on collisions on this stretch have repeatedly turned deadly because buses and coaches share a two-lane road with fast-moving freight traffic.
The Uthal road accident follows a deadly week on highways
The Uthal road accident came just two days after a passenger bus overturned on the Indus Highway in Rajanpur district. Ten people were killed and 44 injured on Wednesday when the bus hit a road divider in Rojhan tehsil, according to Rescue 1122. Feature Pakistan reported that Rajanpur bus tragedy in detail.
Taken together, the two crashes killed 22 people and injured 66 in less than 72 hours. The pattern is grim. Last month, two people were killed and 15 injured in a head-on collision between a passenger coach and an LPG bowser near the Kharkhera Customs on the National Highway in Winder.
In February, five people, including a local journalist, died in two separate road accidents in Winder and Khuzdar districts. In January, four people were killed and several others injured in a road accident near Wadh in Khuzdar district on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway.
That means at least five fatal highway crashes have struck Balochistan’s national highways since January. The economic and human cost of traffic accidents keeps rising with every collision.
Why these crashes keep happening
Police and rescue officials blame most head-on collisions on a familiar mix: speeding, driver fatigue on long routes, overloaded vehicles and weak enforcement of speed limits. The Gwadar-to-Karachi route is a particularly long haul, and drivers often work without proper rest breaks.
Passenger coaches on the Quetta-Karachi Highway also face pressure to complete trips quickly, which encourages overtaking on a road where a single wrong move leaves no margin for escape.
Road safety experts have repeatedly called for stricter fitness checks on public transport vehicles, mandatory rest stops for long-route drivers and separate lanes or wider medians on high-traffic highways. Little of that has materialised on Balochistan’s highways so far.
What happens next
Police have started an investigation into the exact cause of the collision. Officials said the bodies of the dead have been handed over to their families after identification, while hospital staff in Karachi are treating the seriously injured.
The provincial government has not yet announced compensation for the victims’ families. In past cases, Balochistan’s chief minister has announced financial aid for families of the dead and the injured after major accidents.
For the families travelling between Gwadar, Bela and Karachi, Friday’s crash is another reminder that the road home remains one of the most dangerous parts of the journey.
Frequently asked questions
Where did the Uthal road accident happen?
The accident happened near Zero Point in Uthal district, Balochistan, on the Quetta-Karachi Highway. A minibus and a passenger coach collided head-on near Bela.
How many people died in the Uthal road accident?
Twelve passengers were killed. Seven died on the spot and five died later in hospital. Around 22 others were injured, seven of them seriously.
Where were the vehicles travelling?
The passenger coach was travelling from Gwadar to Karachi, while the minibus was heading to Karachi from Bela. Most of the casualties were in the minibus.
