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Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind updated the toll to 40 dead with eight injured after the bus veered off a highway in the remote Dana Sar area and fell more than 20 meters. The vehicle had been carrying around 48 passengers including women and children and had picked up additional riders from a second bus that broke down earlier in the journey. Emergency services director Sanaullah Sherani described the scene as involving a suspected mechanical failure that caused the driver to lose control on the mountainous stretch.
Rescue teams from multiple agencies deployed dozens of ambulances and personnel to the crash site but encountered delays due to the steep and rugged terrain that complicated access to the wreckage. All survivors and the bodies of those killed were transported about 68 kilometers to the District Headquarters Hospital in Zhob for treatment and identification before remains could be returned to families. A hospital official confirmed that the full passenger manifest aligned with early counts from first responders at the location.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti directed authorities to launch a formal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the accident. In a post on X the chief minister added that he was deeply saddened by the loss of life and that arrangements had been made to deliver immediate medical care to those hospitalized. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif separately conveyed their condolences to the affected families according to statements released by their offices.
The incident underscores longstanding deficiencies in Pakistan’s road network where World Health Organization estimates placed annual traffic fatalities at 28,000 in 2021. A Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation program review of national crash data from 2016 through 2021 recorded an average of more than 5,600 deaths per year along with frequent contributing factors that include overloaded vehicles and inadequate maintenance. Separate assessments by the Asian Development Bank have calculated that such accidents generate economic losses exceeding five billion dollars annually across the country.
Comparable disasters have recurred in Pakistan’s hilly regions in recent years. Local police previously reported that 17 pilgrims died and 40 others were hurt when their bus fell into a ravine in Balochistan during Eid travel in 2024. Hours after that event another bus plunged into a ravine in Punjab’s Kahuta district killing 24 people including women and a child according to provincial authorities at the time.
