Hazara Motorway accident: 8 killed as Gilgit bus hits dumper near Havelian
A Gilgit-Rawalpindi bus crashed into a dumper near Havelian on Friday. Rescue 1122 blames a tyre burst; injured were taken to Ayub Medical Complex.
Eight people were killed and around 30 injured when a passenger bus travelling from Gilgit to Rawalpindi crashed into a dumper truck on the Hazara Motorway near the Havelian Interchange in Abbottabad district on Friday, 6 November. Rescue 1122 said a tyre burst made the driver lose control of the bus.
Seven passengers died at the scene and one more died after reaching hospital, according to rescue officials quoted by The News and Dawn. Four of the injured were reported to be in critical condition.
What happened on the motorway?
The bus was heading south towards Rawalpindi on the motorway that links the Karakoram Highway and the north to Islamabad. Near Havelian, rescue officials said, a tyre burst and the bus swerved into a dumper truck. Rescue 1122 teams and Motorway Police pulled passengers from the wreck and moved the injured to hospital.
All the injured, including five children and six women, were taken to Ayub Medical Complex in Abbottabad, according to rescue officials quoted by local media. The dead were reported to be residents of Gilgit, and their bodies were being sent home.
Are the numbers final?
Not quite. Most reports, citing Rescue 1122, give eight dead and 30 injured. A Motorway Police spokesperson quoted by Daily Times gave the same death toll but said 16 people were hurt, and described the truck as a trailer and the bus as coming from Hunza. Hospital figures may settle the count over the weekend.
A familiar danger on long northern routes
The crash comes days after 11 people were killed when a bus hit a truck near Pakpattan, and it is the kind of accident that rescue services see often on long overnight routes from Gilgit-Baltistan: buses running for many hours, worn tyres and heavy goods traffic sharing the same lanes. Motorway Police regularly advise drivers to check tyre pressure and tread before long trips, especially as temperatures drop in the north.
What to watch next: the final casualty list from Ayub Medical Complex and whether the transport company’s fitness certificate is checked.
