At least 14 people lost their lives and 12 others sustained injuries when a Mazda truck plunged into a ditch on Panj Pir Manawan Road in Khushab district, officials reported on Saturday.
As per a Rescue 1122 press release, the truck was traveling from Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Naushera in Punjab when the accident occurred. District Rescue Officer Hafiz Abdul Rasheed attributed the cause of the accident to brake failure.
Photos from the scene depict the vehicle overturned on its side.
Rasheed noted that 14 individuals died at the scene, while 12 others were injured. Rescue personnel provided on-site medical assistance to four people with minor injuries, while the remaining eight, who sustained serious injuries, were transported to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Naushera.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed sorrow over the incident and offered condolences to the families of the deceased, also praying for the swift recovery of the injured.
Punjab has experienced severe road accidents before. In August 2023, at least 18 people died when a passenger bus caught fire after colliding with a pick-up truck carrying drums of diesel on the motorway near Pindi Bhattian.
High-fatality road accidents are common in Pakistan due to inadequate safety measures, poor driver training, and deteriorating transport infrastructure.
Passenger buses and trucks are often overloaded, and seatbelt use is uncommon, contributing to high death tolls in single-vehicle accidents.
According to World Health Organisation estimates, over 27,000 people were killed on Pakistan’s roads in 2018.
