QUETTA (Kashmir English): At least 40 people, including women and children, have died while at least eight others sustained injuries when an overcrowded passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in the Dana Sar region of Zhob near the Balochistan-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border, official sources said on Friday.
The tragic incident took place after the passenger bus reportedly faced a brake failure which led to loss of control by its driver, they said. Rescue teams immediately rushed to the site where the victims were shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital in Zhob for medical treatment.
Bus transporting 48 passengers between Quetta and Peshawar has turned into a horror after picking up more passengers as compared to their carrying capacity due to breakdown of another bus on the same route.
According to officials, this bus was overcrowded as it took more people on board since there was an incident of breakdown of another bus.
The Balochistan Chief Minister’s Adviser on Media, Shahid Rind, confirmed the number of deaths while mentioning the joint operation of rescue efforts done by the emergency teams of both Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“Personnel from Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Health Department, Frontier Corps (FC), District Administration, and other rescue agencies have been deployed at the spot,” he added.
“We have initiated steps to identify victims and provide the best possible treatment to the injured,” Rind said. Authorities have launched a detailed investigation into the incident’s causes.
“With profound sadness, I express my deep sorrow at the loss of lives today…Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families whose loved ones were killed,” President Asif Ali Zardari said.
This was one of the worst accidents in Pakistan in terms of casualties. It’s considered one of the deadliest road tragedies in Pakistan in recent years.
