11 killed, 46 injured in bus accident on Peshawar-Islamabad motorway

E-Paper | February 23, 2026

At least 11 people were killed and 46 were injured on Thursday when a bus carrying passengers overturned near the Bahtar Interchange on the Peshawar-Islamabad motorway.

Police said that the accident occurred in the early hours while it was raining. SP Pothohar Syed Ali held the driver of the bus responsible for the accident. He said that police have filed a case against the driver and arrested him.

Following the incident, he also issued orders to install speed cameras after every 500 metres on the M1 motorway.

Motorway Police DIG Ishfar Ahmed said that the deceased belonged to Lahore, Nankana Sahib and Swat. He quoted several eyewitnesses as saying that the driver was continuously using a mobile phone while driving and refused to pay heed to some passengers who asked him not to do so. The driver was also accused of having consumed hashish.

According to the officer, the bus went out of the driver's control when he was overtaking a trailer.

THQ Taxila Medical Superintendent Dr Hooria told DawnNewsTV that 10 bodies and eight injured persons were brought to the hospital. She said that the rest of the casualties were taken to various hospitals in Hassanabdal, Wah Cant and Rawalpindi.

According to police, two of the bodies were yet to be identified.

Pakistan

Tahir Naseer is a court and crime reporter for Dawn News (TV) with 17 years of experience in the field. He has covered numerous high-profile investigations, and his reporting focuses on transparency, accountability, and systemic challenges within the legal sector. He can be found on X at @tahirnaser.

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Ali

Jul 11, 2019 01:15pm

Making the poor driver a scapegoat. First answer.. 11 killed + 46 injured... What were 57 people doing in such a bus?

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M. Saeed

Jul 11, 2019 01:17pm

Very unfortunate accident all due to neglect. May the departed souls rest in peace and our transport authorities get wisdom to act before such accidents. All passenger vehicles on Motorways, should have in-bus cameras connected to the smart cameras of the Motorways authorities, for continuous monitoring the speed and behaviours of drivers of public transport and for acting before accidents happen.

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Prateik

Jul 11, 2019 01:28pm

Poor road conditions are responsible for accidents.

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Javed

Jul 11, 2019 01:33pm

There needs to be an emergency number that passengers of public transport can call when the driver is driving dangerously.

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Daskalos

Jul 11, 2019 01:39pm

Half of these buses and coasters etc are owned by big shots and influentials or police officials. And over 70% of drivers have not passed or qualified any public transport driving tests, many have fake licences. How are the lives of citizens to be safeguarded?

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Mansoor

Jul 11, 2019 01:44pm

we have no safety and regulations first train, now this

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Pakistani

Jul 11, 2019 01:53pm

Drivers in Pakistan are the main reason innocent passengers die due to them taking risks.

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Irshad

Jul 11, 2019 01:57pm

We need to regulate License Issuance to Public Transport Vehicles, as mostly un-educated class easily lay their hands on starring wheels of public vehicles. Recently I traveled to Lahore from Pindi via a famous company, and it started from its peshawar road stand at 7:30 instead of 6:00am from Faizabad and even then it reached to Lahore at 10:30am. I complained to Motorway Police to check their departures and regulate them as obviously they over-speed on motorway. Accidents show a need review.

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Rao

Jul 11, 2019 02:45pm

Sorry but sadly majority of long route drivers use drugs, are forced to drive even 24 hours non-stop, do rash driving. In general people are use to of using cellphones while driving; stop by any road and witness yourself, people will start their generators bare foot, use washing machine with water littered all over, bare foot. Safety is zero concern for entire populace. Wakeup, ethics is the only way forward.

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Rao

Jul 11, 2019 02:46pm

RIP peace lovely souls. May the injured have best of recovery - aaameen

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Laila

Jul 11, 2019 03:51pm

RIP. Very sad.

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Prateik

Jul 11, 2019 03:59pm

Horrible day. People lost lives on both road and rail. Maybe aviation is the safest.

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Jul 11, 2019 04:05pm

What a great, gruesome, gigantic and grave tragedy? Inna Lilla Hay Waa Inna Illehey Rajayoon.

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SimpliTruth

Jul 11, 2019 04:52pm

Then our PM is making Pakistan tourist destination #SelectedPMgoHome

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SimpliTruth

Jul 11, 2019 07:15pm

@Prateik, Tragic loss of lives but PTI leaders did not uttered a word but blame human negligence as they are dreamers of welfare state

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Sid

Jul 11, 2019 08:01pm

Should the Minister for roads resign?

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Seedoo

Jul 11, 2019 08:29pm

Not just the driver, authorities should also file charges against the owners of the company that own this bus for negligence. They must hold them accountable too for they were the ones who had hired this bus driver.

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Pervez

Jul 11, 2019 09:53pm

Long driving hours...buses drive to skardu from Islamabad with 1 driver and it takes almost 24 hrs

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M. Afzal Riaz, MD

Jul 11, 2019 10:54pm

Using of phone while driving by any person specially bus driver is dangerous. It should be banned.

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LAHORI KID

Jul 12, 2019 12:54am

What is going on, so many accidents in a matter of few days, so many lives lost over carelessness.

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LAHORI KID

Jul 12, 2019 12:56am

@Ali, Ever ridden in one of these buses? These drivers think they are invincible and race car drivers with no conscious.

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Bharat

Jul 12, 2019 03:31am

@Ali, Adherence to standards relies on the Police and other authorities. There is evidence of corruption plus the lack of resources. This means that budget allocations are to be checked

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Moeazze

Jul 12, 2019 06:11am

Sorry for the bad news. Everyone here is blaming the driver but in the train accident they are blaming government. Accident happen most of the time due to human error or machine malfunction. The best you can do is push safety training with fool proof systems. Previous governments have ignored these facts as they were busy with petty local projects that gave them votes and not national issues.

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fairplay

Jul 12, 2019 11:39am

@M. Afzal Riaz, MD, banned in most western countries, but not in China, yet.

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fairplay

Jul 12, 2019 11:41am

@M. Saeed, all buses and trucks need a speed governor installed in the engine. It doesn't allow over speeding. Used in Europe.

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fairplay

Jul 12, 2019 11:42am

@Rao, laws need to be passed to fine owners heavily, with driver stops required every 2 hours, even china has this in place.

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fairplay

Jul 12, 2019 12:32pm

@Rao, seatbelts? No driver can exceed 8 hours in 24 hours, random checks on the highway, no cell phone usage by the driver, when bus is moving, etc. This isn't rocket science.

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Abid Niazi

Jul 12, 2019 08:48pm

@Prateik, Peshawar Islamabad motorway is the best road.... Its all because of negligence. So sad for so many casualties.

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