Officials reported that at least 17 religious pilgrims lost their lives and 41 sustained injuries in a crash while traveling to a shrine in southwestern Pakistan, according to statements made on Thursday.
The accident occurred around 10 pm on Wednesday in the Hub district of Balochistan province, confirmed district deputy commissioner Munir Ahmed to AFP, validating the count of fatalities and injuries.
Ahmed explained, “The truck was overspeeding and it went out of the driver’s control while negotiating a turn,” causing it to plunge into a ravine near the shrine.
Shaukat Jalbani, the deputy medical superintendent of Hub’s main hospital, also verified the death toll of 17 individuals and stated that most of the injured had been transported to nearby Karachi city for medical treatment.
Pakistan often witnesses road accidents with significant casualties due to lax safety measures, inadequate driver training, and deteriorating transport infrastructure.
In a similar incident in January 2023, 41 individuals lost their lives when a passenger bus, loaded with containers of flammable oil, veered off the road and caught fire after plunging into a ravine in Balochistan province.
