At least 18 people were killed and seven others were injured after a Swat-bound passenger coach collided with a bus parked by the roadside of the Swat Motorway in Khoro Kotay Saeedabad area on Monday, Rescue 1122 said.
Rescue 1122 Public Relations Officer Syyed Abbas Shah confirmed the number of casualties.
According to the motorway police, the passenger coach crashed into a bus that was parked by the roadside after developing a mechanical fault.
The motorway police, Rescue 1122 officials and locals of nearby areas rushed to the spot after the incident was reported and shifted the dead and injured to Mardan Medical Complex Hospital.
Hospital and Rescue 1122 officials said that the identities of the dead and injured persons had yet to be ascertained.
However, they said that the majority of the victims hailed from Dir and Bajaur, and were headed home for the Eid holidays.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information and Public Relations Shafi Jan expressed grief at the incident. He said that the injured were being provided with the best medical facilities.
Accidents are common on highways and motorways across Pakistan, often caused by reckless driving, speeding, driver fatigue, and poor vehicle maintenance, with poor road conditions contributing to mishaps.
Earlier this month, five people were killed and 10 others injured when a passenger van carrying a wedding party plunged into a ravine in Swat’s Charbagh tehsil.
On April 6, at least nine people were injured when a passenger van lost control and met with an accident near the Matani Bypass in Peshawar.
The same week, a passenger bus overturned on the M-3 motorway near Punjab’s Nankana, killing three people and injuring 26 others.
On March 31, a motorway police inspector, who was providing assistance following a traffic accident, lost his life after being struck by a truck near the Hazara Motorway in KP.
Separately, at least six people, including women and children, were killed and three others injured in a tragic road accident near the Toll Plaza in the Kalat area of Balochistan, on Monday, according to police sources quoted by television channels.
Initial reports stated that a rashly driven van collided with a car passing through the Toll Plaza. The rescue team rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies and injured persons to the hospital.