The accident occurred on a road linking the Swat region with Peshawar after a passenger bus suffered a mechanical fault and was forced to stop along the roadside. Passengers had exited the vehicle and were waiting nearby when an approaching van veered into the crowd and struck both the stranded travelers and the parked bus.

Bilal Ahmad Faizi, a rescue official, said at least 17 people were killed in the collision, while more than 10 others sustained injuries. He added that three of the injured were in critical condition.

Muhammad Ali, a doctor at a local hospital treating victims from the crash, confirmed the death toll.
Emergency responders transported the injured to nearby medical facilities as authorities worked to identify victims and determine the circumstances that led to the van losing control.

Many of those involved in the accident were traveling home ahead of Eid, one of the most significant religious holidays in the Muslim calendar, a period that typically sees a sharp increase in road traffic across Pakistan.

Fatal road accidents remain a persistent challenge in the country, where authorities and safety experts have long cited weak enforcement of traffic regulations, excessive speeding, inadequate road safety measures and reckless driving as major contributors to high casualty rates.

The crash occurred near the Airport Rail Link’s Makkasan station when the container freight train struck the bus after it became trapped on the tracks at a red light, according to Deputy Transport Minister Siripong Angkasakulkiat.

Preliminary findings indicated the bus had stopped on the crossing, preventing the rail barriers from closing before the train approached, Siripong told reporters.
“The train was unable to stop in time to avoid colliding with the bus,” he said, adding that all eight fatalities were passengers aboard the bus.

Emergency crews and firefighters rushed to the scene as flames spread through the bus and nearby vehicles on Asok-Din Daeng Road. Rescue workers pulled injured passengers from the wreckage while fire crews battled the blaze with water hoses.

Videos circulating on social media showed the train striking the bus and dragging multiple vehicles along the tracks before the fire erupted.

A witness, motorcycle taxi driver Wanthong Kokpho, told Reuters the bus had been immobilized by traffic at the crossing.

“The bus was stuck at a red light, so it couldn’t move,” he said. “The fire broke out immediately.”

Officials said the fire was later brought under control as emergency teams continued cooling operations and searched the site for additional victims.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the collision.

Thailand has one of the world’s highest road fatality rates, according to the World Health Organization, with safety experts frequently citing weak enforcement of traffic and transport regulations.