By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: At least 11 people were killed when a passenger bus slammed into a trailer loaded with heavy concrete girders on the National Highway in southern Sindh province early on Sunday, rescue officials and police said.
The bus was travelling from Bahawalpur in Punjab province to Karachi when the collision occurred near Tando Masti in Khairpur district, according to the National Highways & Motorway Police (NHMP) and local rescue officials. Nine passengers, the driver and the conductor died in the crash, they said. The Edhi Foundation, which runs Pakistan’s largest ambulance and burial service, said the bodies were taken to Khairpur Civil Hospital. Ten injured passengers were receiving treatment there, it added.
The NHMP put the toll at 11 dead and eight injured. In a statement, the motorway police said the accident was caused by “negligence and recklessness on the bus driver’s part”. Rescue teams and motorway police reached the site within minutes, the statement said, and the dead and injured were shifted to nearby hospitals. The NHMP inspector general has sought a detailed report on the crash.
Sindh’s Inspector General of Police ordered the senior superintendent of police in Khairpur to rush to the scene and personally supervise rescue and relief operations. He also instructed authorities to keep surrounding roads clear to speed the transfer of the injured to hospital. An emergency control room was set up to coordinate the response, with contact numbers issued as 071-9310878 and 0243-640800.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the accident and offered prayers for the dead, state television PTV reported. He directed the Sindh government to provide the best possible medical care to the injured and said he was in direct contact with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. “Every possible effort should be made to prevent such tragic incidents,” Zardari was quoted as saying. He called for a “coordinated strategy” to enforce traffic rules on national highways. Chief Minister Shah and Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori both offered condolences to the families of the victims. Shah instructed officials to ensure strict enforcement of traffic laws across the province, his office said.
The latest crash comes just days after another deadly pile-up on the M9 Motorway near Karachi. On Friday, at least 14 people died and several others were injured when an oil tanker, a passenger bus and multiple other vehicles collided near Kathore. Rescue officials said women and children were among the dead and that the force of the impact hurled several passengers off a bridge. Police said the bus involved was travelling on the wrong side of the road. A first information report was registered at Gadap police station on behalf of the state, citing charges of culpable homicide and reckless driving. According to the FIR, the accident happened around 3:40 p.m. when the oil tanker lost control and hit a trailer and another vehicle. The bus and a third vehicle coming from the opposite direction then overturned. The tanker driver was killed on the spot, along with drivers and passengers of the other vehicles.
Road accidents are common in Pakistan, where poor enforcement of traffic rules, speeding and vehicle overloading are frequent causes. In September 2025, seven members of one family, including three women and two children, were killed when a truck smashed into their car on a national highway near Moro.
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