Overloaded passenger coach plunges into Balochistan ravine, leaving 40 dead

Massive disaster on Sherani-Zhob highway claims dozens of lives and injures eight others after bus taking on stranded travellers loses control in treacherous border terrain.

A catastrophic traffic accident on the Sherani-Zhob highway has claimed the lives of at least 40 people and left eight others severely injured. The disaster occurred in the remote, mountainous Danasar area of the Sherani district, situated near the high-risk border corridor connecting Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The passenger coach, operated by New Mekhtar, was en route from Quetta to Peshawar when it veered off the hazardous road and plunged roughly 70 to 80 feet into a deep ravine.

According to Sherani Deputy Commissioner Hazrat Wali Kakar, the transit vehicle initially departed Quetta with 36 passengers on board. However, the coach became significantly overloaded midway through the journey after stopping to pick up additional travellers from another broken-down bus heading toward the same destination. This sudden operational strain resulted in a total of 48 people being packed inside the vehicle at the time of the fatal crash.

The difficult mountainous terrain severely complicated the initial stages of the recovery effort, taking rescue teams more than two hours to safely access the crash site. A large-scale emergency response was mobilised, bringing together personnel from Rescue 1122, the Frontier Corps, local police, and the district administrations of both provinces. The Medical Emergency Response Centre confirmed that 40 bodies were successfully retrieved from the mangled wreckage, while the eight survivors were rushed to the Trauma Centre at the District Headquarters Hospital in Zhob.

In response to the influx of critical casualties, a medical emergency was immediately declared at healthcare facilities across Sherani and Dera Ismail Khan to guarantee urgent care.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti expressed profound grief over the devastating loss of life and instructed administrative authorities to ensure that the survivors receive the best possible medical treatment. A formal investigation has been launched by local law enforcement to determine the exact cause behind the vehicle losing control at the mountain bend.