By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: At least 11 people were killed and 33 others injured on Thursday when a passenger bus and a truck-trailer collided on Depalpur Road near Pakpattan in Pakistan’s Punjab province, officials said.
Rescue crews spent about three hours using cranes and other heavy machinery to pull passengers from the wreckage, according to a statement from the district administration.
The crash happened near 17 SP Stop, a Rescue 1122 spokesperson said, when the bus met a truck coming from the opposite direction. The district administration said the bus was travelling from Multan to Kasur. Other reports, citing rescue officials, said the trailer was carrying potatoes and that the bus overturned after being struck. Several local outlets described the bus as bound for Lahore. No cause has been officially established.
Two of the dead were serving personnel, though accounts of who they were differ. The Rescue 1122 spokesperson said the victims included a member of the rescue service and a Para Force officer. The chief minister’s office referred to a Para Force official and a police officer on patrol. Local media reported they belonged to the Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (PERA) and the Punjab Highway Patrol.
Deputy Commissioner Asif Raza and District Police Officer Javed Iqbal Chadhar went to the scene and oversaw the operation alongside Rescue 1122 teams. Raza then declared an emergency at the District Headquarters Hospital in Pakpattan, where the injured and the bodies were taken, and called in extra doctors and medical staff. He and Chadhar later visited the hospital to check on the injured and review their care. Raza told the hospital administration to provide “prompt, high-quality medical care” to every patient, the district administration said.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz sought a report on the crash, according to a handout from the province’s Directorate General of Public Relations. She also directed officials to ensure the best possible treatment for the injured and conveyed her condolences to the families of the dead, including those of the two personnel. She expressed “deep sorrow” over the loss of life.
The crash adds to a heavy toll on Punjab’s roads. Rescue 1122 recorded 44,797 traffic accidents across the province in October alone, leaving at least 464 people dead and 23,543 seriously injured. Motorcycles were involved in nearly a third of them.
Lahore had the most crashes, with 7,874 involving 8,833 motorcycles. Multan followed with 2,838 accidents involving 3,312 motorcycles, then Faisalabad with 2,615 involving 2,896. Gujranwala recorded 2,092 accidents involving 2,250 motorcycles, and Sheikhupura 1,714 involving 1,706. Taunsa Sharif had the fewest, with 142 incidents involving 160 motorcycles.
Experts have often blamed the province’s road deaths on reckless driving, rising vehicle ownership and inadequate pedestrian infrastructure.
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