Bus loses control and falls into rocky ravine near border of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials say.
Published On 3 Jul 2026
A bus has plunged from a highway into a ravine in southwestern Pakistan, killing 40 people, officials say.
“A passenger bus travelling from Quetta to Peshawar plunged into a deep ravine in the mountainous Dhana Sar area,” Sanaullah Sherani, the head of Zhob district’s emergency centre, told the AFP news agency on Friday.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“The bus fell approximately 70 to 80 feet (21 to 24 metres) into the ravine,” Sherani added.
The speeding bus lost control early on Friday and fell into the rocky ravine in a remote area near the border of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the Balochistan government, told The Associated Press.
Both officials said 40 people were killed. At least eight others were injured.
Rind said the bus had been travelling from Balochistan’s provincial capital, Quetta, to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He added that the bus was carrying not only its own passengers but also passengers from another bus that had broken down, leaving the vehicle overcrowded.
A police official, Mohamed Nasir, told DPA news agency that speeding was a likely cause of the crash but an investigation had been launched to determine the exact reason.
Rescue teams from both Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces were at the scene, according to news agencies.
“As the accident occurred in a rugged mountainous area, rescue teams faced significant difficulties during the initial phase of the operation,” Sherani told AFP.
Fazal Din, a rescue department spokesman, told DPA teams were using cutters and machines to retrieve bodies and injured people from the bus.
Officials said they are working to identify those killed in the crash.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari expressed sorrow over the crash, offering condolences to the families of those killed and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to weak traffic enforcement laws, speeding, poor road safety standards and reckless driving.
In May, a minibus rammed into a bus parked along a motorway in northwest Pakistan, killing 17 people and injuring five others.