Islamabad: As many as 30 passengers were killed and 15 others were injured when a passenger bus and a car plunged into a deep ravine, Geo News reported. The two vehicles plunged into ravine after colliding with each other on the Karakoram Highway in the Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday.
The passenger bus was heading to Rawalpindi from Gilgit when it collided with a car coming from the opposite side in the Shitial region of the province, as per the Geo News report. Police and rescue officials reached the site after they were informed about the incident. The police shifted the injured and the bodies to the hospital.
Rescue team facing difficulties in rescue operations
The rescue officials said that the rescue teams were facing difficulties in rescue operations due to darkness. Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi has condoled over the loss of lives in a bus accident. He expressed grief over the deaths in the tragic incident and prayed for the bereaved families.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of lives in a bus accident near Chillas in Gilgit Baltistan. He expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the departed souls. Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister expressed grief over the bus accident in Kohistan. Khalid Khurshid instructed the administration and all relevant departments to evacuate the injured from the site of the accident and provide them with medical facilities, as per the Geo News report. He issued directives to create a special control room for better coordination and monitoring of emergency response.
Previous similar accident on January 29
On January 29, 41 people were killed when a passenger coach fell into a ravine in Pakistan's Balochistan, Dawn reported. The incident occurred in the Lasbela district of Balochistan.
Lasbela Assistant Commissioner Hamza Anjum said that the vehicle carrying 48 passengers was travelling from Quetta to Karachi, as per the Dawn report. He said that the vehicle crashed into the pillar of a bridge near Lasbela and subsequently fell into a ravine and caught fire.
"Due to speeding, the coach crashed into the pillar of a bridge while taking a U-turn near Lasbela. The vehicle subsequently careened into a ravine and then caught fire," Dawn quoted Hamza Anjum as saying.
