24 Killed, 20 Injured After Bus Plunges Into Ravine In Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, July 3 (NNN-Xinhua) -- At least 24 people were killed and 20 others injured after a passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in the Sherani district of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Friday, according to local officials, reported Xinhua.

Deputy Commissioner of the district Hazrat Wali Kakar said that the accident occurred in the Dhana Sar area of Sherani, close to the border between Balochistan's Sherani district and the Dera Ismail Khan district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

Police and rescue teams from both districts rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and the injured to nearby hospitals.

According to a rescue official, women and children were among those killed in the accident.

Local police said that the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the bus at a sharp turn in the mountainous region when it was heading to northwest Peshawar district from Balochistan's provincial capital of Quetta.

The Balochistan provincial government expressed grief over the loss of lives and extended condolences to the bereaved families, while Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti directed the relevant departments to provide the best available medical care to the injured.

-- NNN-BERNAMA-XINHUA