| 2023 Lasbela bus crash | |
| Pushpin Map: | Pakistan |
| Coordinates: | 26.1973°N 66.3049°W |
| Date: | 29 January 2023 |
| Location: | Bela Tehsil, Lasbela District, Balochistan |
| Country: | Pakistan |
| Type: | Bus crash |
| Vehicles: | 1 |
| Passengers: | 43 |
| Deaths: | 41 |
| Injuries: | 2 |
On 29 January 2023, a bus carrying at least 43 people plunged into a ravine and caught fire in Bela Tehsil, Lasbela District, Balochistan, Pakistan. The crash initially killed 40 people and injured three,[1] one of whom died shortly after. The two remaining survivors were in a "serious" condition.[2]
The bus was en route to Karachi from Quetta when it crashed into a pillar of a bridge which led to its fall, according to Lasbela's assistant commissioner Hamza Anjum.[3] Head of the local rescue service Asghar Ramazan told Agence France-Presse that the bus was "loaded with containers of oil."[4]
Most of the bodies of the dead were burned beyond recognition, and were taken to Karachi where DNA testing would be used to establish their identities.[5] [6]
The chairman of the Pakistan People's Party and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the entire country was saddened and that he sends his condolences. He said an investigation into the crash will be carried out.[7]
Lasbela Deputy Commissioner Murad Kasi said the cause of the accident was speeding, with the driver losing control of the vehicle while making a U-turn. There were unconfirmed reports that the bus was transporting smuggled Iranian oil. The All Quetta-Karachi Coaches Union blamed the crash on slippery roads and a short circuit in the bus' wiring.[8]