• Victims include three siblings
• Survivor blames reckless driving, police cite ‘burst tyre’ as cause of fatal accident
CHAKWAL: Nine passengers, including four children, were killed and 30 others injured when the bus they were travelling in crashed on the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway near the Balkassar Interchange on Sunday morning.
The victims included three siblings, as well as a mother and her young son. Among the injured was also a Filipino, married and residing in Lahore.
Carrying over 40 passengers, the bus bearing registration number JA-6871 was en route to Lahore from Islamabad, police and rescue officials said.
Around 7:15am, it was near Dhoke Sial village, just 2km from the Balkassar Interchange, when one of its tyres burst, officials said. As a result, they added, the driver lost control of the vehicle, which veered off the motorway and fell into a ditch.
Besides, the personnel of Motorway Police, Chakwal district police, teams of Rescue 1122 and Frontier Works Organisation also arrived at the site soon after the crash.
Police said eight people, including four children, died on the spot, while a woman later died at a hospital. According to the police, there were two drivers on the bus; one died in the crash while the other fled.
The injured were transported to Kallar Kahar tehsil headquarters hospital and Chakwal district headquarters hospital. Also, seven bodies were shifted to Chakwal hospital, while one was taken to Kallar Kahar hospital where a critically injured woman passed away.
Chakwal Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Mukhtar Sarwar Niazi told Dawn that 12 injured passengers and seven bodies were brought to the hospital. “Four persons are critically injured and have been referred to Rawalpindi,” he said.
Most of the deceased and injured were residents of Lahore.
The deceased were identified as two-year-old Haram, her sister Khadija, 14, and their eight-year-old brother Ahmed. All three siblings, residents of Lahore, were travelling with their mother, Sidra Khaliq, who sustained injuries in the accident.
Eight-month-old Haider and his mother, Ume Rubab, 31, also from Lahore, died in the crash, while his two-year-old sister Abeeha and father Mohsin were injured.
Other victims included Habiba from Lahore, Sardar Nadeem Mushtaq and Manshad Begum from Islamabad, and Muhammad Yasin, resident of Arifwala, and one of the bus drivers.
While police identified tyre burst as the sole cause of the crash, Mohsin, who lost his wife and son, alleged it was reckless driving. “Both drivers were talking to each other about reaching their destination quickly to pick up more passengers.
‘‘Due to overspeeding, the driver lost control, and the bus skidded off the road,” Mohsin told Dawn.
A case has been registered against driver, manager and owner of the transport company.
Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2025