According to media, at least 13 people died and dozens more were hurt in two separate traffic incidents involving passenger coaches in Balochistan, Pakistan, on Thursday (local time).
Information about the deadly accidents
The two different events happened when passenger coaches crashed into other cars, killing a lot of people:
Lasbela’s Uthal Crash: A passenger coach hit a truck near Zero Point in Uthal, Lasbela, killing six passengers and hurting 17 others.
According to Edhi emergency services, the first responders on the site, a second terrible disaster happened in Hub-Winder, killing seven passengers and injuring 16 others.
The crashes stopped all traffic on the national route. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Lasbela Atif Amir verified the traffic jam but said that rescuers worked promptly to remove the crash sites and help the casualties. Later, officials said that the rescue operations were over and traffic was back to normal on the roadway.
Context: A recent deadly crash in Karachi led to mob violence.
The horrific events in Balochistan happened around a month after a separate deadly car crash in Karachi on August 10 that caused a lot of mob violence and demonstrations.
A dumper truck hit their motorcycle on Karachi’s Rashid Minhas Road near Lucky One Mall, killing two brothers and hurting their father.
Victims: Central Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Zeeshan Shafiq Siddiqi said that Mahnoor, 22, and her 14-year-old brother Ahmed Raza were killed, while their 48-year-old father Shakir was hurt. Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that the girl who died was going to get married soon.
After the crash, there was a lot of anger instantly. A group of people set fire to seven dump trucks on both Rashid Minhas Road and the Superhighway near Sohrab Goth. Transporters also staged a protest, blocking important city roads and generating a lot of traffic problems.
Police Response: The police stepped in to arrest the driver and take the dumper into custody. They blocked off the area, rerouted traffic, and summoned in fire trucks to put out the fires in the cars. Siddiqi said that 14 people were arrested for setting fire to the dumpers, and more arrests are expected based on video and other evidence.