LAHORE: The Emergency Services Department (Rescue 1122) reported 43,160 road traffic crashes, resulting in 23,013 serious injuries and 434 deaths during the month of May across Punjab.

The department secretary, Dr Rizwan Naseer, has expressed concerns at the large number of road accidents while presiding over a review meeting of all the districts here on Monday.

During the meeting, he was briefed that the department rescued 236,593 victims while responding to 235,522 emergencies in the month.

The directors Emergency Services, heads of the wings and provincial monitoring officer were present in the meeting while district emergency officers attended it via video link.

Lahore reported most number of crashes, Murree least

The head of operations explained that the major burden of the emergencies remained 58,233 road accidents followed by 44,024 cardio-vascular cases.

The department also reported 38,977 emergencies of gastro-intestinal, 19,585 of respiratory, 18,071 of neuro, 11,867 of fever, 9,855 of fire & rescue emergencies, 7,464 of urinary, 6,047 gynae & obstetrics, 5,549 diabetic, 5,254 crime emergencies, 5,247 psycho-social, 4,253 back & joint pain and 453 allergy emergencies.

The data revealed that 434 people died in 43,160 road traffic accidents during the month.

Out of these crashes, the highest number, 7,766, was reported in Lahore, involving 8,642 motorcycles.

In Faisalabad, 2,838 accidents involving 3,096 motorcycles were reported, while in Multan, 2,793 accidents involved 3,199 motorcycles. Gujranwala reported 2,312 accidents involving 2,470 motorcycles and Sheikhupura recorded 1,578 accidents with 1,576 motorcycles involved.

The lowest number of accidents were reported in Murree with 158 accidents.

Similarly, the majority of fire incidents took place in major districts i.e., 760 incidents in Lahore, 236 in Faisalabad, 167 in Gujranwala, 166 in Sheikhupura, 163 in Multan and 150 in Sialkot.

Dr Naseer urged all citizens to avoid direct exposure to sunlight to avoid the ongoing heatwave. He advised the public to take precautionary measures while going outside during the hot weather. He urged all citizens to ensure safety precautions while visiting water recreational sites.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2026