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A passenger bus in Pakistan’s Punjab province collided with a parked van carrying fuel drums, leading to a fire that claimed the lives of at least 18 people and left 13 others injured.

The bus with more than 40 passengers was bound for Islamabad from Karachi when it met with the accident in the early hours of Sunday near Pindi Bhattian, Hafizabad district of eastern Punjab province.

Senior police officer Fahad Ahmed said the bus rammed into the pick-up van that was carrying diesel drums, causing a massive blaze due to the impact of the collision and contact with fuel.

Police said the van was parked on the shoulder of the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway when the accident happened.

Mr Ahmed said 18 bodies that have been retrieved from the bus were badly charred and a DNA testing would be conducted to confirm their identity.

The drivers of both vehicles died, police said, adding that some of the rescued passengers suffered severe burn injuries and some are in critical condition.

Inspector general motorway police Sultan Khawaja said those who managed to jump from the windows of the bus managed to survive the deadly crash.

“On the Pindi Bhatian section of the motorway, the bus hit a static van which was carrying a fuel tank. The bus hit it from the rear and both vehicles caught fire immediately, killing at least 18 passengers,” he said.

Hospital staff and rescue workers carry a victim of a bus accident into a hospital in Pindi Bhattian (AP)

He said the investigation will reveal “whether the bus driver fell asleep at the time of the accident or the crash took place because of over-speeding”.

Visuals on social media showed the ashy skeleton of the bus standing on the highway as the fire continued to blaze through parts of it.

Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed grief over the accident and directed health authorities to ensure the best treatment for those injured.

Deadly road accidents are a common occurrence on Pakistan’s highways, where safety norms are frequently overlooked and traffic rules are breached. Additionally, drivers often succumb to fatigue and doze off while driving on extended journeys.

In July, a passenger bus carrying devotees met with an accident after the driver allegedly fell asleep in the Fazilpur area of Punjab’s Rajanpur district, killing five people and injuring 20 others.

rescue workers load a body into an ambulance after recovering from a burnt bus at the accident site on a highway (AP)

The tragic bus accident occurred on the same day as a militant attack in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, resulting in the death of 11 labourers, caretaker prime minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Sunday.

A truck carrying the workers to a construction project site in Waziristan, near the Afghan border, exploded after a suspected improvised explosive device detonated, security officials said.

“They were working at an army post that is under construction ... an IED exploded under a vehicle carrying the labourers,” deputy commissioner of North Waziristan, Rehan Khattak said.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.