13 killed as 12 vehicles collide on motorway near Hafizabad

E-Paper | May 03, 2026

At least 13 were killed while 72 others sustained injuries when 12 vehicles collided into each other on the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway on Thursday, police officials said.

The vehicles involved in the accident include seven trucks, two coasters and two cars.

A convoy of the Tableeghi Jamaat was heading from Peshawar to Raiwind when 12 vehicles crashed into each other on the M2 motorway near Hafizabad due to heavy smog, according to DawnNews.

The injured have been transferred to Pindi Bhattian Hospital, Hafiz Ahmed, PRO of District Police Officer Sardar Gul told DawnNews.

He confirmed the deaths of 13 people and added that the death toll is expected to rise.

The incident involved at least two cars. -Photo by author

Six amongst the killed have been identified as residents of Nowshera.

It has emerged that due to heavy smog engulfing Punjab, sections of the motorway have been closed off.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed sadness over the incident and announced that the injured will get free treatment.

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Pakistan

Zahir Abbas Sial has been reporting for Dawn News (TV) since 2011. His coverage spans investigative reports, crime, and social justice issues across multiple Punjab districts. He can be found on X at @ZaheerAbasSial.

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Azeem usmani

Nov 03, 2016 01:33pm

immense crash

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gul

Nov 03, 2016 01:37pm

Very sad indeed, if only the rail minister Saad Rafique paid more attention to his job.

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Basheer DEST

Nov 03, 2016 01:57pm

@gul Dude... A car crash.... Get it?

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Muhammad Imran

Nov 03, 2016 02:17pm

May their souls rest in peace.

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Ameer Hamzah

Nov 03, 2016 02:25pm

What a tragic incident has just happened near my hometown. Prayers for the victims.

Recommend 0

humble

Nov 03, 2016 02:28pm

It means they were driving at high speed to occur such a devastating accident, people should understand to drive slow and be cautions during fog on motorway and highways!

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zeekay

Nov 03, 2016 02:36pm

it was not Fog, it was SMOG yesterday. there is a difference between these two.

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Amer RAO

Nov 03, 2016 02:44pm

Really very sad news. But these all accidents always preventable. We must keep the distance between cars, according to the weather condition. Unfortunately our transport ministry never ever plan for safety campaigns.

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Something Fishy

Nov 03, 2016 02:50pm

@Basheer DEST reduced dependency and traffic on roads, specially in fog, if railways is working good.

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Something Fishy

Nov 03, 2016 02:51pm

@zeekay For drivers both has same affect. Drivers must adjust speed and be careful. and motorways be closed if needed.

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AAN

Nov 03, 2016 03:17pm

I am surprised with the statement by CM Punjab "the injured will get free treatment". Is he paying from his own pocket and how about the motorway fund where they get millions in every day and their bill does not contains any services in case of injuries or death.

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Skeptic

Nov 03, 2016 03:26pm

Punjab government doing a great job to keep the air in the province clean and keeping its citizens safe! Smog is a man-made pollution which can be controlled with stringent emission measures and regulations. What has Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif been doing about that?

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Pakistan Zindabad

Nov 03, 2016 03:35pm

@zeekay Have you traveled in Punjab on these foggy days?

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Pathanay Khan

Nov 03, 2016 03:41pm

Injured should get the treatment for free as it's a welfare state. What's there to announce in that

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Kamal Pasha.

Nov 03, 2016 04:15pm

Main reason for all these accidents are that drivers are not qualified and not sensible. They don't know the basic of driving.

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Whistle_Blower

Nov 03, 2016 04:23pm

It's not smog but Fog in that area due to rice fields. This area starts suddenly meaning that it is not gradual decrease in driving vision but a sudden white wall hits you. someone was too fast and just freaked and applied brakes and chaos broke loose for the following vehicles. Trucks and bus drivers are trained for this. Very very sad incident. But i am amazed at the reaction of CM Punjab. why did he have to mention that treatment would be free? everyone knows that emergency treatment is free.. urgh!!!

Recommend 0

K.T.H.

Nov 03, 2016 04:41pm

Such accidents happen because (i) the vehicles are unfit for motorway (see the two pictures - except Daewoo Bus); (ii) the drivers are not used to driving on the motorway (every vintage vehicle/ all categories of driver are on the road during Ijtima); (iii) the drivers are not used to driving in fog/smog; and (iv) they want to drive the vehicle at the fastest possible speed.

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Adnan mazher khan

Nov 03, 2016 04:54pm

Warning signal that Smog will be intense. Be very careful to drive.

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Shah2u

Nov 03, 2016 05:11pm

In Dec. 2014, I've personally witnessed a fully loaded bus with passengers, over-taking me at a breakneck speed on the M2 Southbound (Isl-to-Lhr.) in the "thickest of fog" conditions. I was wondering, if that bus made it without an accident, as I couldn't see beyond my car's bonnette.

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Zafar Ahmed

Nov 03, 2016 05:15pm

Motorway Police is not keeping a check & control on the reckless driving & bad weather, they need to deliver for safe driving controls.

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Afzaal Ansari

Nov 03, 2016 05:24pm

Unfortunate, today has loss more than 20 lives due to collusion of passengers trains in Karachi and heavy smog engulfment which causes the collides in cars trucks coaster etc in hafizabad. These types of incidents may be mitigated through conscious awareness among the people for driving measurements as well as paradigm change in deteriorated signals system in raileay.

Recommend 0

Dori

Nov 03, 2016 05:53pm

if it was west then minister would have resign but this khawaja will not as he is serving NS not people of Pakistan....

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Asma Ali

Nov 03, 2016 06:08pm

@Adnan mazher khan - Agree, that should be installed with experts advice and guidance to avoid such crashes in the future.

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shami

Nov 03, 2016 08:47pm

V sad indeed

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kingatwill

Nov 03, 2016 09:34pm

in all my life i haven't seen such smog. these thermal power projects specially the coal ones must be halted immediately. furthermore the the industries must be forced to comply by carbon emission standards and waste management.

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Tariq, Lahore

Nov 03, 2016 09:55pm

Speed restriction needs to be enforced by the highway patrol police when there is poor visibility due adverse weather conditions!

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Javed

Nov 03, 2016 10:20pm

Lighted signage needs to be installed to warn road-users of lower speed limits during inclement weather.

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Rafay

Nov 03, 2016 11:39pm

@humble If you go slow, or else stop, somebody could hit you from the rear. And probably run over you. I've seen that happen. Best thing is to park your cars and get away from the road.

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Sukhera

Nov 04, 2016 01:48am

Why the highway was not shutdown when visibility was low.

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Aziz

Nov 04, 2016 01:58am

Why free treatment? Unless he is paying out of his own pockets, I don't want him to use our tax money to pay for someone else's free treatment.

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GOhar

Nov 04, 2016 01:59am

Smog? Did you mean "fog?"

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khan

Nov 04, 2016 07:13am

Motor ways need to be closed as poor visibility takes toll of human lives

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Talat Naeem

Nov 04, 2016 09:32am

It's really sad to hear about the accident. We must be extremely careful during such weather conditions.

Recommend 0

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