Six people were killed and seven were injured after a passenger bus caught fire after colliding with a loader rickshaw carrying petrol on the Western Bypass in Quetta, police said on Monday.

Fatal road accidents on highways occur frequently in Pakistan, mainly due to overspeeding, hazardous overtaking and disregard for traffic rules.

According to Shalkot Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Athar Rashid, “In the tragic incident, five passengers on the bus were killed and seven others were injured.”

He said that the bodies of the deceased had become unrecognisable due to the burns.

“The injured were taken to the Bolan Medical Complex and Civil Hospital, and two of them are in critical condition,” he said.

DSP Rashid added that the local bus was going from Nawan area to Hazarganji when the accident occurred at the Raisani area on the Western Bypass, adding that the bus caught fire after colliding with a petrol-laden loader rickshaw.

In a statement, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind expressed sorrow over the incident.

“We express our heartfelt sympathy to the families of the passengers who died in the tragic accident,” he said. “The injured are being provided with immediate and the best medical assistance. Treatment and facilities are being ensured for them.”

Rind said that an investigation was launched into the incident, stating, “Strict action will be taken against those responsible once the investigation is completed.”

He also said that all possible help and support will be provided to the affected families.

Separately, Adviser on Local Government Hamza Zehri also extended condolences to the bereaved families, directing authorities to provide facilities to the injured.

He said, “No one will be allowed to play with the lives and property of citizens. [The] Metropolitan Corporation should seize mini petrol pumps and installations established in densely populated areas of the city.”

“Those responsible for the Western Bypass incident will be identified and punished,” he added.

In April, a bus driver was burnt alive and seven passengers were injured as their bus caught fire after hitting a mini-truck laden with pesticides at Gojra on the M-4 motorway near Nawan Lahore interchange.

Earlier this year, a fatal collision between two cars near Dhabeji on the Karachi-Thatta section of the National Highway claimed four lives, among them a newly-wed man and his mother, and left six injured when the vehicles caught fire following the accident.