At least 36 individuals lost their lives in two distinct bus mishaps in Pakistan on Sunday, according to rescue and police authorities. Among the fatalities were 12 pilgrims attempting to travel to Iran. All 24 passengers aboard a bus met a tragic end when it fell into a ravine close to Azad Pattan, situated on the boundary of Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
"I have lost three members of my family," shared Tara Zafar, who rushed to the hospital upon hearing about the tragedy. Her father, sister, and one-year-old nephew were among those who perished. "I had hoped that at least one of them had survived. It's a devastating day for my family." Umar Farooq, a senior government official from Sudhanoti district, confirmed at the crash site that all 24 passengers on the bus had died. Approximately 20 villagers assisted in retrieving the bodies before official help arrived.
"We carried the bodies out of the ravine wrapped in shawls and scarves," recounted Manazir Hussain, a 44-year-old retired army soldier. In another incident, 12 men were killed when their bus crashed into a ravine on the Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan, after being denied entry into Iran. An army crane was used to extract the bus from the ravine, and no additional bodies or injured individuals were discovered.
"This stretch of road is particularly dangerous, with many curves. The driver was speeding, and the bus plunged into a deep ravine," explained police official Aslam Bangulzai, who was present at the scene. The accident took place in a mountainous region, approximately 100 kilometers from the nearest town of Uthal and 500 kilometers from the Iranian border town of Pishin. The bus was transporting pilgrims on their way to the Arbaeen pilgrimage but was turned back at the Iran border due to document issues, according to Hamood Ur Rehman, a senior government official in the nearby district of Gwadar.
Fatal road accidents are frequent in Pakistan, where safety protocols are often neglected, driver training is inadequate, and transportation infrastructure is frequently in poor condition. On Saturday, the bodies of 28 pilgrims who died in a bus crash in Iran were repatriated to Pakistan. The bus was carrying 51 Pakistani pilgrims en route to the Arbaeen commemoration in Iraq, one of the largest events in the Shiite calendar, when it overturned and caught fire in front of a checkpoint in Yazd province on Tuesday night, as reported by Iranian state TV.
