A Pakistani official said 40 people, including women and children, were killed when a bus carrying passengers fell from a bridge and caught fire in southern Pakistan on Sunday (January 29).
The Associated Press reported that the bus carrying 44 passengers crashed on its way from Quetta in Baluchistan province to Karachi in neighboring Sindh province when it reached the town of Bela in the Las Bella region.
A local official said that the accident was caused by the speeding of the bus, which hit a bridge pillar and fell into a nearby deep ditch before catching fire. Four injured passengers were rescued. The remains of the victims were burnt beyond recognition and had to be transported to Karachi for DNA testing to identify them. After identification, the remains were returned to their families.
Pictures from the scene of the crash showed the burnt bus not far from the bridge, with the remains of some passengers in body bags lying beside it.
The governor of Balochistan expressed grief over the loss of life and demanded quality medical care for the injured.
According to reports, a large number of traffic accidents in Pakistan are usually caused by violation of traffic rules, causing thousands of people to die in traffic accidents every year.
In another accident in northwest Pakistan, ten schoolchildren picnicking drowned on Sunday after a boat they were traveling in capsized on a lake.
Local police said that of the 25 students on board, six were rescued, three of them in critical condition, and nine are still missing. All the students who died were between 11 and 13 years old.
The report stated that the boat had previously carried 16 students to the other side of the lake, and capsized when it returned to carry the 25 students. Preliminary investigations indicated that the vessel should have capsized due to overloading.
Due to the lack of diving lifeguards in the local area, they have to rush to the local area from the provincial capital Peshawar.
Pakistan Welcomes First Lamborghini Urus At Karachi Port - News Honest