A passenger bus overturned and fell into a ravine, killing 23 people, including women and children, and injuring several others, in Khuzdar district on Friday.
According to Dawn, the bus was carrying pilgrims from Wadh in Balochistan to Dadu in Sindh. Citing Major (r) Bashir Ahmed, the deputy commissioner of Khuzdar, the report stated that the pilgrims had the annual urs at Sufi saint Abdul Qadir Naqshbandi’s shrine in Wadh. It stated that the bus driver lost control of the vehicle while making a sharp turn, adding that the bus was overcrowded and several pilgrims were sitting on its roof.
The news outlet reported that that 15 of the victims died on the spot, while three others succumbed to their injuries during treatment at the hospital. The bus driver was among the injured and some of them were in critical condition, it added.
The report stated that two brothers and four others of a family were among the deceased, adding that the bodies had been sent to the victims’ hometowns via ambulances after the completion of medico-legal formalities.
“There is not a single passenger who does not have an injury because of the bus accident,” Ahmed told the AP by phone.
Separately, Imam Bakhsh, one of the injured passengers, told AP by phone that the passengers had repeatedly warned the driver to drive more carefully. He blamed the driver for the accident, saying that he was enjoying music and driving recklessly.
Reportedly, officials launched an investigation into the incident.
On May 3, at least 15 people including women and children died in an accident at Burhan Interchange on Lahore-Islamabad Motorway.
Tyre burst was cited as the reason for the road crash. The bus carrying around 50 passengers was going to Mardan from Lahore on the motorway when it met the tragedy.
A minor girl and a woman are among the dead while more than two dozen sustained injuries. The Motorway police and rescuers reached the spot and took the injured to the Hassan Abdal Hospital. Those critically injured were referred to Rawalpindi.
Last year, five of a family were killed and 24 others were injured as a bus carrying pilgrims overturned near Shah Noorani crossing in Lasbela district, Balochistan.
The bus, carrying over 30 pilgrims, was going to the shrine of Hazrat Bilawal Shah Noorani in the Wadh area of Khuzdar district from Karachi. It had also overturned at a sharp turn in the hilly area near Shah Noorani crossing.
The bus overturning had left five people dead on the spot.
Road accidents are common in Pakistan where most of the accidents are caused by overloading in public transport, negligent drivers, poor vehicle maintenance and dilapidated roads.
