17 dead, 40 injured after truck plunges into ravine in southwestern Pakistan

People wait to collect the body of their relative who were died in a bus crash, at a morgue in Karachi on April 11, 2024. A Pakistani official says a bus crash has killed and injured multiple persons in the country's southwest. (AP)

A volunteer prepares to shift the dead bodies of religious pilgrims in a vehicle, after a truck accident, in Karachi on April 11, 2024. At least 17 religious pilgrims were killed and 41 injured in a crash as they traveled to a shrine in southwestern Pakistan, officials said on April 11. (AFP)

Relatives of religious pilgrims, who died in a truck accident, mourn in Karachi on April 11, 2024. At least 17 religious pilgrims were killed and 41 injured in a crash as they travelled to a shrine in southwestern Pakistan, officials said on April 11. (AFP)

• The incident took place as dozens of pilgrims from neighboring Sindh were traveling to a Sufi shrine in Balochistan
• Police arrest the driver, call him inexperienced and unfamiliar with the road leading to the shrine in Khuzdar

QUETTA: Police officials in Balochistan’s Hub district confirmed on Thursday 17 pilgrims from the neighboring Sindh province were killed and 40 wounded after a truck carrying them to a shrine in Khuzdar fell into a ditch while taking a sharp turn.
The crash took place on Wednesday night when dozens of people from Sindh’s Thatha district were traveling to the shrine of Shah Noorani located nearly 300 kilometers from Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta.
Noorani, a Sufi saint, is believed to have belonged to the 12th or 13th century, with locals saying his teachings contributed significantly to the spread of Islam in the area.
“17 pilgrims were killed in the fatal accident and 40 injured,” Abdul Waheed Baloch, Station House Officer (SHO) of Dureji located in Hub district where the incident happened, told Arab News. “They were initially taken to Jam Ghulam Qadir Hospital in Hub city. Later, most of the injured people were shifted to Karachi for better medical treatment.”
Baloch said the truck driver carrying the pilgrims was inexperienced and unfamiliar with the road leading to the shrine.
“He was traveling to Balochistan for the first time and didn’t know the routes and curves leading to the shrine,” he said.
The SHO added the driver the driver was speeding and jumped out of the truck to save his life.
Later, Senior Superintendent Police in Hub district Manzoor Buledi told Arab News the driver had been arrested and brought in for interrogation.
Medical Superintendent of Jam Ghulam Qadir Hospital Dr. Nasir Sheikh confirmed 20 injured with critical wounds were referred to Karachi after initial medical care.
“The Balochistan government contacted the Sindh administration for better medical treatment of the injured while the bodies of the pilgrims were being shifted to their native villages,” Balochistan’s provincial authority informed in a statement.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed sorrow over the traffic accident, praying for those who lost their lives in it.
He expressed condolences to the families of those who died in the accident while hoping for the speedy recovery of the injured.
According to a statement issued by his office, he directed the authorities to provide all possible medical assistance to the injured.
Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads, particularly in many rural and underdeveloped areas, are in poor condition.
Last year in January, 41 people lost their lives when a passenger bus, loaded with oil containers, fell into a ravine in Balochistan and went up in flames.