Islamabad: At least 24 people were killed and more than 20 injured in two separate road accidents on Saturday, when a truck plunged into a dry canal in Punjab’s Sargodha district and a passenger coach overturned near Ormara tehsil in Balochistan.

According to Beyond the Time News, in Sargodha, 14 people — including six children — lost their lives, while nine others were injured after a truck carrying passengers and cargo fell into a canal from the Galapur Bangla bridge due to dense fog, Rescue 1122 said.

Officials said the truck was travelling from Islamabad to Faisalabad with 23 people on board to attend a funeral. Due to heavy fog and closure of motorways, the vehicle took a local route and lost control near Kot Momin tehsil, plunging into the canal.

Rescue 1122 stated that although the canal was dry, several passengers were trapped beneath the overturned truck. The injured were provided first aid on site and shifted to Civil Hospital Kot Momin, while three critically injured victims were later moved to Kot Momin Tehsil Headquarters Hospital.

“The incident was reported at 1:48am on January 17, 2026, and rescue operations were launched immediately,” the statement said.

Dense fog continues to disrupt traffic across Punjab during winter. Earlier on Saturday, sections of motorways M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-11 were closed due to poor visibility, according to the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP).

Separately, in Balochistan, at least 10 people were killed and over a dozen injured when a speeding passenger coach overturned on the Makran Coastal Highway at Hudd Goth near Ormara tehsil.

Edhi Rescue Service confirmed that the deceased included a young girl and said a mobile morgue had been dispatched to Ormara to transport the bodies to Karachi. The coach was travelling from Karachi to Jiwani, police said, adding that the victims belonged to various parts of Sindh and were heading to Jiwani for labour work.

The injured and bodies were initially taken to PNS Darman Jah Hospital in Ormara.

Fatal road accidents are common on Pakistan’s highways, largely due to overspeeding, dangerous overtaking, poor visibility, and disregard for traffic rules.