ISLAMABAD, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people were killed and scores of others injured after a collision between a passenger bus and a van in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan on Saturday, local Urdu TV channel Geo reported.
According to the report, the accident happened at about 11:20 a.m. local time when the driver of the van lost control due to over-speeding and collided head-on with a bus coming from the opposite direction in Mastung, a district located in the southwestern Balochistan.
The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital Quetta for treatment. The conditions of seven injured were said to be critical, said hospital sources.
The van's driver died on the spot while the driver of the passenger bus fled the scene after the deadly accident. Local police have launched a search operation in the area to arrest him.
Both Balochistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Minister Sanaullah Khan Zehri have expressed condolences with the families of the victims and mourned the loss of lives in the accident. The chief minister has directed concerned authorities to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, around 9,000 road accidents are reported to the police every year since 2011, killing more than 4,500 people annually on average.
Poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving are the common reasons behind accidents in the country.
