KHUZDAR: At least 12 passengers were killed and around two dozen injured when a minibus and a passenger coach collided head-on near Zero Point in Uthal on the Quetta-Karachi Highway in Balochistan on Friday, police said.

Police officials said the coach was travelling from Gwadar to Karachi, while the minibus was heading to Karachi from Bela.

“The tragic incident took place near Bela when the passenger coach hit the minibus,” the officials said, adding that seven passengers were killed on the spot, while five others succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

In-charge of the Edhi Centre in Bela Abdul Hakeem Lasi, said around 22 injured passengers were shifted to hospital by Edhi workers before being moved to Karachi for treatment.

He said the condition of seven injured passengers was serious. Most of the casualties occurred in the minibus, he added.

The accident occurred two days after 10 people were killed and 44 others injured when a passenger bus overturned after hitting a road divider in Rajanpur district’s Rojhan tehsil on the Indus Highway on Wednesday, according to Rescue 1122.

A similar accident occurred last month when two people were killed and 15 others injured in a head-on collision between a passenger coach and an LPG bowser near Balochistan’s Kharkhera Customs on the main National Highway in Winder.

In February, five people, including a local journalist, were killed in two separate road accidents in Winder and Khuzdar districts.

In January, four people were killed and several others injured in a road accident near Wadh in Khuzdar district on the Quetta-Karachi National Highway.