By staff Reporter
MARDAN: At least 17 people were killed and seven others injured on Monday when a speeding passenger coach slammed into a bus parked on the shoulder of the Swat Expressway after suffering a mechanical breakdown, rescue officials said.
The crash occurred in the Khoro Kotay Saeedabad area near Rustam, along the heavily traveled four-lane highway that links Peshawar and Mardan with the tourist district of Swat in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Rescue 1122 officials said the dead and injured included passengers from both vehicles. Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for Rescue 1122 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, confirmed the toll. “A speeding flying coach collided with a passenger coach parked on the roadside due to a breakdown on the Swat Expressway,” he said. “Seventeen people, including passengers from both the flying coach and the parked bus, were killed, while seven others were injured. Three of the injured are currently in the ICU and their condition is critical.” Officials said the precise number was still being verified as emergency workers continued to clear the scene.
Motorway police said the parked bus had pulled over after developing a mechanical fault. The oncoming coach struck it from behind. Rescue teams, motorway police, and residents from nearby villages rushed to the site within minutes, pulling victims from the wreckage and transporting them to Mardan Medical Complex Hospital. Emergency operations at the crash site lasted several hours, officials said.
Hospital and rescue authorities said late Monday that the identities of the dead and injured had not yet been formally established. But they indicated that the majority of the victims were residents of Dir and Bajaur districts who were traveling home for the Eid holidays. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information and Public Relations Shafi Jan expressed condolences over the loss of life and said the injured were receiving the best available medical care.
The Swat Expressway, also known locally as the Swat Motorway, is a primary artery for passenger traffic in the region, carrying intercity buses and coaches between the provincial capital of Peshawar, the district of Mardan, and the scenic Swat Valley, a popular destination for domestic tourists. Road accidents remain distressingly common on Pakistan’s highways and motorways, where a combination of reckless driving, excessive speed, driver fatigue, poorly maintained vehicles, and inconsistent enforcement of traffic laws frequently leads to tragedy. Overnight and intercity bus travel is especially hazardous, particularly during holiday periods when traffic volumes surge.
The crash was the latest in a series of serious incidents in the region. Earlier this month, five people died and 10 others were hurt when a passenger van carrying a wedding party plunged into a ravine in Swat’s Charbagh tehsil. On April 6, nine people were injured when a van lost control near the Matani Bypass in Peshawar. Days later, a passenger bus overturned on the M-3 motorway near Nankana in Punjab province, killing three and injuring 26. On March 31, a motorway police inspector was struck and killed by a truck while assisting at the scene of another accident on the Hazara Motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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