The bus-truck accident in Gadani in Balochistan, which killed at least 38 people and left dozens more with terrible burns and injuries, was almost inevitable. A bus, carrying smuggled Iranian oil, collided with a truck. Another passenger bus slid on the resultant oil slick and hit the other two vehicles, causing a conflagration that eyewitnesses say erupted into a huge fireball. Most of the passengers on both buses were incinerated. Truck and bus accidents are common in Pakistan, especially of overloaded passenger buses, because traffic rules in most of the country are virtually non-existent and rash or reckless driving is the norm. Buses smuggling oil from Iran increase the risks, as this tragedy shows. The long and porous border between Iran and Pakistan is a long-standing route for smugglers. Oil products smuggling has been a standard part of the trade for decades. Children and mules are known to cross the border carrying bottles or canisters of fuel. The authorities neither have the will nor the resources to police it fully, while their complicity in the trade cannot be ruled out. US and western sanctions on Iran have made it cheaper for Pakistanis to buy Iranian oil as the Irani currency has lost a significant portion of its value in recent times. Reports say petrol from Iran can be bought at Rs 104 a litre, as against the official price of Rs 110, providing a healthy profit. As a result, diesel and petrol smuggling has boomed to as much as 40,000 litres a day in recent years, and most reports indicate that numerous law enforcement agencies are complicit in the smuggling. The consequences of these factors can now be seen in the full light of this tragedy: dozens of people burnt alive because of a complete failure of law enforcement. The Balochistan government needs to take steps to crack down on smugglers and particularly to investigate allegations of official involvement in smuggling. Examples need to be made if such complicity is to be overcome. Similarly, the federal government needs to ensure that border security is beefed up and criminals are not allowed the run of the divide between the two countries. As the recent incident where Iranian soldiers were kidnapped and allegedly brought into Pakistan shows, allowing the situation to continue could have significant international repercussions. And as Friday’s accident shows, people in Pakistan are already paying for this criminal behaviour with their lives. *