ast Sunday more than 20 families lost their loved ones in yet another fatal road accident.

A speeding bus heading from Islamabad to Quetta fell in a ravine near Zhob. 19 passengers were pronounced dead initially and the injured were shifted to a hospital.

The bus was carrying 33 passengers, most of whom were students heading home after completing their semester.

Since Islamabad houses four out of the top ten universities in Pakistan, students from all over the country come here for higher education.

The International Islamic University (IIU) caters to a large number of out-of-station and international students.

Five of the deceased in the horrific accident happened to be students from the faculty of social sciences.

The university faculty and administration organised funeral prayers for the deceased at the Faisal Masjid Campus.

Salahuddin Salarzai, a media student, tells The News on Sunday that those who died were of Pashtun origin.

Habibur Rehman Kasi, a student from Quetta, says that his friend Orangzeb was among the three who were reported injured. They were shifted to a private hospital in Quetta. “Luckily all of them have survived. They have been visited by several government functionaries since the accident. However, they have received little help,” he says.

Prof Zafar Iqbal, the dean of social sciences, is faimilar with area. He says that the road from Islamabad to Dera Ismael Khan has been made a dual carriageway. It is a part of the CPEC route. “But it is in a state of disrepair once you cross Dera Ismail Khan and enter Balochistan. The accident took place in the foothills of Koh-i-Suleman. The ravine in which the bus fell is just past Mughal Kot. The road twists and turns and is lined with deep crevices,” he says. “The university mourns the death of its five sons. This is an irreparable loss,” laments Iqbal.

Prof Dr Muhammad Zaman, the founding chairman of sociology department at the Quaid-i-Azam University, explains that in addition to the human cost, the financial cost the national economy has to bear on account of road accidents is more than its defence budget.

According to government data, road accidents cost Pakistan $9 billion which is about Rs 1,800 billion annually. “This amount is not only more than the defence budget of the country, it also exceeds the IMF loan negotiated recently,” says Dr Zaman.

According to Dr Zaman, there needs to be stricter implementation of speed limits and heavy fines need to be imposed on those who break road rules.

Kasi, however, says that the owners of the bus companies are in some illicit business or the other. They are always in a hurry to get to Quetta as soon as possible.

He endorses comments by many Pashtoon students who say that the bus had faulty brakes. They also say that a mechanic in Dera Ismail Khan had told the driver about the fault.

“Due to the Eid rush, my friends boarded this bus on different days to avoid this company. The 12-14 from Islamabad to Quetta takes nearly seven hours to reach its destination after Dera Ismail Khan. During those seven hours in Balochistan, the road is dilapidated. It is a single-carriage way. The agony of travelling on this road is compounded by the security check posts that dot it,” he says.

The Afghans who boarded this bus were largely business people. Most of them have valid Pakistani ID cards to prove their refugee status.

Additionally, the number of Afghan students enrolled at IIU is more than any other university in the country.

Their community in Islamabad faces several problems crossing borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan at different places.

Several ambassadors in Islamabad, including those of France and Germany, have condoled with the bereaved families.

There is an outrage on the pages related to IIU and Pashtun students on social media about this accident. In an account, a student shared a photo of a friend who lost his life in the road accident with a caption that he had planned to share it with the deceased upon his return.

Others have shared photos of their deceased friends in classrooms and on university grounds. A close relative of Alauddin, a Sharia and Law student, had died before he lost his life in the accident.

Muhammad Irfan, a classmate of Abdullah Allaudin, narrates, “We were close. Last time we met, he talked about the situation in Balochistan. He was an educated person who worried about the students in marginalised areas. We have lost a bright mind. They were not merely students who had passed their degrees, they bore the hopes and dreams of their parents. Atique was engaged to be married. A junior from 6th semester was married and had a baby girl.”

The writer teaches development support communication at International Islamic University Islamabad.   Twitter: @HassanShehzadZ    Email: Hassan.shehzad@iiui.edu.pk