Packed bus plunges into ravine in Pakistan, 40 killed, survivors rushed to hospitals

QUETTA (Pakistan), July 3 — An overloaded bus veered off a road and fell more than 20 metres into a ravine in western Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 40 people, officials said.

The chief minister of Balochistan province where the accident took place had ordered an inquiry, according to his spokesman, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed grief over the passenger casualties.

“A passenger bus travelling from Quetta to Peshawar plunged into a deep ravine in the mountainous Dana Sar area... 40 people have been confirmed dead and 11 others injured,” said Sanaullah Sherani, the head of the emergency centre in Zhob district near where the incident took place.

Sherani said the injured passengers had been taken to hospital, three of them in critical condition.

“The bus fell approximately 70 to 80 feet (21 to 24 metres) into the ravine,” Sherani added.

“As the accident occurred in a rugged mountainous area, rescue teams faced significant difficulties during the initial phase of the operation,” he said.

Shahid Rind, the spokesperson for southwestern Balochistan’s chief minister, told AFP the bus had left the provincial capital Quetta on Thursday evening.

It had picked up extra passengers from another broken down bus on the way, causing it to become overloaded, he added. The chief minister had ordered an investigation into the causes of the accident, which took place near the border with northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Rescue teams from both provinces were at the scene, he added.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to weak enforcement of traffic laws, speeding, poor road safety standards and reckless driving. — AFP