464 die in Punjab road crashes in October

Lahore records highest number of road accidents

LAHORE:

At least 464 people were killed and 23,543 seriously injured in 44,797 road traffic crashes across Punjab in October 2026, with motorcycles involved in nearly three-quarters of the incidents, according to Rescue 1122.

Expressing concern over the figures, Emergency Services Department Secretary Dr Rizwan Naseer called for greater attention to road safety, particularly among motorcyclists. He urged riders to keep to the left side of the road and maintain speeds below 50 kilometres per hour, warning that excessive speed increased the risk of fatal accidents.

The figures were shared during a monthly review of the emergency operational performance of Rescue 1122 districts across the province.

According to the department, its teams responded to 231,056 emergencies during October and rescued 233,210 people.

These included road accidents, medical emergencies, fires, drowning incidents and other rescue operations.

The department recorded 1,726 fire emergencies and 94 drowning incidents during the month.

The head of operations informed the meeting that accidents and other injuries accounted for the largest category of emergencies, with 59,325 cases. These were followed by 42,813 cardiovascular emergencies, 31,301 gastrointestinal cases and 22,605 respiratory emergencies.

The data also included 17,853 neurological emergencies, 15,212 fever cases, 7,954 gynaecological and obstetric emergencies and 7,498 urinary cases.

Rescue 1122 additionally handled 6,924 fire and rescue emergencies, 5,275 diabetic cases, 4,915 psychosocial emergencies, 4,227 cases involving back and joint pain, 4,195 crime-related emergencies and 379 allergy cases.

Lahore recorded the highest number of road crashes, with 7,874 incidents involving 8,833 motorcycles. Multan reported 2,838 accidents involving 3,312 motorcycles, while Faisalabad recorded 2,615 crashes involving 2,896 motorcycles.

Gujranwala reported 2,092 accidents involving 2,250 motorcycles, followed by Sheikhupura with 1,714 crashes involving 1,706 motorcycles.

Taunsa Sharif recorded the lowest number, with 142 accidents involving 160 motorcycles.

Fires were also concentrated in major districts. Lahore reported 357 incidents, followed by Faisalabad with 122, Rawalpindi with 116 and Multan with 109. Sheikhupura recorded 66 fire incidents and Gujranwala 62.

Dr Rizwan chaired the monthly review meeting on Monday, which was attended by directors of emergency services, heads of wings and the provincial monitoring officer.

District emergency officers joined through video link.

During the meeting, district officers briefed the secretary on their operational performance, major emergencies, response efforts, challenges and lessons learnt.

Dr Rizwan said the figures underlined the need to strengthen road safety measures and improve public awareness, particularly among motorcyclists.