At least 12 passengers were killed and around two dozen injured when a minibus and a passenger coach collided near Zero Point in Uthal, on the Quetta-Karachi Highway in Balochistan’s Lasbela district, on Friday, police said, according to Dawn and The Express Tribune.
What police and officials said
According to Dawn, the coach was travelling from Gwadar to Karachi and the minibus was heading from Bela to Karachi when they collided head-on. The Express Tribune reported that a passenger bus travelling from Lasbela to Karachi collided with a passenger van. Police said an investigation has begun to find the cause.
Seven passengers were killed on the spot and five more died of their injuries in hospital, police said, as reported by Dawn. Abdul Hakeem Lasi, in charge of the Edhi Centre in Bela, said about 22 injured passengers were taken to hospital by Edhi workers and then shifted to Karachi for treatment. Seven of them were in serious condition, he said, and most of the casualties were in the minibus.
Dr Awais Wajid, the medical superintendent of the Uthal District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, told the Tribune that women and children were among the dead and injured and that the injured had been moved to Karachi for further treatment.
Police, rescue teams, district administration officials and local residents rushed to the scene. Traffic on the national highway was disrupted until police cleared the road, the Tribune said. Arrangements were being made for treatment of the injured and for handing the bodies to their families.
A string of accidents
The crash came two days after 10 people were killed and 44 injured when a passenger bus overturned after hitting a road divider on the Indus Highway in Rajanpur on Wednesday. Read our report on the Rajanpur bus accident.
Balochistan has seen several fatal road accidents in recent months:
- October 19: four people, including women and children, were killed when a Mazda truck collided with a car near Darbi in Bolan district.
- October 13: four people were killed and five injured when a van travelling from Quetta to Kalat collided with a truck near Badrang in Mastung district.
- September: two people were killed and 15 injured in a head-on collision between a passenger coach and an LPG bowser near Kharkhera Customs on the main National Highway in Winder.
- July: at least 40 passengers were killed and eight injured when a coach travelling from Quetta to Peshawar plunged into a ravine in the Dana Sar area on the Sherani-Zhob highway.
- February: five people, including a local journalist, were killed in two separate accidents in Winder and Khuzdar districts.
- January: four people were killed in an accident near Wadh in Khuzdar district on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway.
In January, rescue officials said they had recorded more than 24,000 road accidents in Balochistan during 2025, resulting in over 415 deaths and nearly 30,000 injuries. The Quetta-Karachi N-25 National Highway was identified as the province’s most accident-prone route, the Tribune reported.
Why it matters
The Quetta-Karachi N-25 is the province’s most accident-prone route, according to rescue officials. Two deadly crashes on major highways in three days, together with the 2025 figures, show the scale of the risk. The cause of Friday’s collision, which police are still investigating, will show whether speed, overtaking, vehicle condition or road design played a part.
This article draws on reporting by Dawn and The Express Tribune.
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