New Age | 34 dead in two bus accidents in Pakistan
At least 34 people were killed in two bus accidents in Pakistan on Sunday, rescue workers said.
At least 22 people were killed when the bus they were travelling in plunged into a ravine near the town of Azad Pattan on the border between Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
“So far, 22 people have died, including 15 men, six women and one child,” said Farooq Ahmed, a spokesman for the emergency service Rescue 1122 in Punjab.
In another incident, 12 men died when their bus plunged into a ravine on the Makran coastal road in Balochistan after being prevented from crossing into Iran.
“This is a particularly dangerous stretch of road with many twists and turns. The driver was driving too fast and the bus fell into a deep ravine,” police officer Aslam Bangulzai, who was at the scene, told AFP.
The accident occurred in a mountainous region, about 100 kilometers from the nearest town of Uthal and 500 kilometers from the Iranian border town of Pishin.
“The bus was carrying pilgrims on their way to the Arbaeen (pilgrimage) but was turned back at the Iranian border because of problems with their documents,” said Hamood Ur Rehman, a senior government official in the nearby Gwadar district.
Traffic accidents with many fatalities are not uncommon in Pakistan. Safety precautions are lax, drivers are inadequately trained and the transport infrastructure is often dilapidated.
On Saturday, the bodies of 28 pilgrims who died in a bus accident in Iran were brought to Pakistan.
The bus was carrying 51 Pakistani pilgrims travelling through Iran to attend Iraq’s Arba’een festival, one of the biggest events in the Shiite calendar, when it overturned and caught fire outside a checkpoint in Yazd province on Tuesday evening, Iranian state television reported.