KHUZDAR: At least seven people, including women and children, were killed and 17 others injured in a head-on collision between a passenger coach and a truck in the Uthal area of Lasbela district on Thursday, officials said.

The incident took place in the zero-point area of Uthal when a truck loaded with stones struck a Karachi-bound passenger coach travelling from Panjgur, police said.

Five passengers were killed on the spot, and two others later succumbed to their wounds at a hospital.

Volunteers from the Edhi Foundation, Rescue 1122, and the Lasbela Welfare Trust rushed to the site to launch a rescue operation, retrieving bodies and the injured from the coach. The victims were shifted to the district hospital in Uthal.

Officials confirmed that women and children were among the 17 injured.

Four of the deceased were identified as Azima Bibi, Zeba Abid, Mola Ba­­khsh and 15-year-old Sabi­­ra. Three others who were killed could not be identified.

The government of Bal­o­chistan, in a statement, expressed sorrow over the tragic loss of lives.

“The provincial government stands with the affected families in their hour of grief,” the statement said..

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2025