RAWALPINDI (AFP) – At least 34 people were killed in two separate bus accidents in Pakistan yesterday, including 12 pilgrims who had been trying to reach Iran, rescue officials said.
At least 22 people were killed when the bus they were travelling in plunged into a ravine near the town of Azad Pattan.
“Twenty-two dead till now, including 15 men, six women and one child,” said spokesman for Rescue 1122 emergency services in Punjab Farooq Ahmed. In a separate incident, 12 men died when their bus crashed into a ravine on the Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan, after being prevented from crossing into Iran.
“This is a particularly treacherous tract of road, with many twists and turns. The driver was over speeding and the bus fell into a deep ravine,” police official Aslam Bangulzai, who was at the scene, told AFP.
The accident occurred in a mountainous area, around 100 kilometres (km) from the nearest town of Uthal and 500km from the Iran border town of Pishin. “The bus was carrying pilgrims on its way to Arbaeen (pilgrimage) but was turned back at the Iran border because their documents had some problems,” said a senior
government official in the nearby district of Gwadar, Hamood Ur Rehman. Road accidents with high fatalities are common in Pakistan, where safety measures are lax.
