Fog and speeding blamed as 24 die in Pakistan bus crashes

At least 24 people, including women and children, were killed in two separate road accidents in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province and southwestern Balochistan on Saturday, officials said, as winter fog and speeding continued to pose serious risks on the country’s highways.

In Punjab, a truck carrying passengers plunged into a canal near Sargodha district, killing at least 14 people and injuring nine others, local authorities said.

The victims were members of a single family traveling from Rawalpindi to Faisalabad.

Rescue officials said the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital, while police attributed the crash to dense fog combined with overspeeding, which reduced visibility in the early morning hours.

In a separate incident in Balochistan, at least 10 people were killed and 12 others injured when a passenger coach overturned near Hud Goth in Ormara tehsil of Gwadar district, police said.

The coach was traveling from Karachi to the coastal city of Gwadar when it lost control due to high speed and flipped over, officials said. Rescue teams rushed to the site and evacuated the injured and the dead, with critically wounded passengers transported by ambulances and Pakistan Navy helicopters to nearby medical facilities.

Pakistan’s Punjab Law Minister Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan expressed condolences to the families of the victims and directed authorities to ensure proper medical treatment for the injured, according to a government statement.

The accidents come amid persistent winter fog affecting large parts of Punjab and surrounding regions, sharply reducing visibility and disrupting road travel. Authorities have temporarily closed several major motorways and urged motorists to avoid unnecessary journeys and observe safety guidelines until conditions improve.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to poor infrastructure, lax enforcement of traffic laws and hazardous weather conditions, particularly during the winter months.