The Quetta-Karachi Highway claimed more lives on Friday. At least 12 people were killed and about two dozen injured when a passenger coach and a minibus collided head-on near Zero Point in Uthal, Balochistan.
Police said the coach was travelling from Gwadar to Karachi, while the minibus was heading to Karachi from Bela. Officials said the coach struck the minibus; seven passengers died at the scene and five more succumbed to their injuries in hospital.
Abdul Hakeem Lasi, who runs the Edhi Centre in Bela, said around 22 injured people were taken to hospital and later shifted to Karachi for treatment. Seven of them are in serious condition, he said, adding that most of the casualties were minibus passengers.
The crash came just two days after a bus overturned after hitting a road divider on the Indus Highway in Rajanpur district's Rojhan tehsil on Wednesday, killing 10 people and injuring 44. The Quetta-Karachi National Highway has also seen several deadly accidents near Khuzdar and Winder earlier this year.
Head-on collisions on the largely single-carriageway highway have killed travellers for years, and each new tragedy revives calls to turn it into a dual carriageway.