40 killed, 8 injured after bus plunges into ravine in SW Pakistan

ISLAMABAD -- At least 40 people were killed and 8 others injured after a passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in the Sherani district of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province on Friday, provincial government officials told Xinhua.

Assistant to the Balochistan Chief Minister for Political and Media Affairs, Shahid Rind, said that the death toll rose after several of the injured succumbed to their injuries while being transported to hospitals and undergoing treatment.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of the district, Hazrat Wali Kakar, told Xinhua that the accident occurred at the Zhob-Sherani Highway in the Dhana Sar area of Sherani, near the border between Sherani district in Balochistan and Dera Ismail Khan district in 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, including women and children.

According to a rescue official, the accident occurred in difficult mountainous terrain and rescue teams took more than two hours to reach the site.

Local police told Xinhua that the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the bus at a bend in the hilly area when it was heading to Peshawar district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Balochistan's provincial capital of Quetta.

The deputy commissioner said the bus left Quetta with 36 passengers before picking up several additional passengers along the route.

The Balochistan provincial government expressed grief over the loss of lives and extended condolences to the bereaved families.

Pakistani President Asif Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the accident, extended condolences to the bereaved families, and prayed for the victims and the speedy recovery of the injured.

The president directed authorities to ensure the best possible medical care for those wounded, and said the entire nation stands in solidarity with the affected families.