40 dead after overloaded bus falls into Pak ravine

An overloaded bus veered off a road and fell more than 20 metres into a ravine in western Pakistan yesterday, 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.