Hafiz Muhammad Qasim, deputy commissioner of Jhob district, said the passenger bus was on its way from Loralia to Jhob town.
Hafiz Muhammad Qasim, deputy commissioner of Jhob district, said the passenger bus was on its way from Loralia to Jhob town.
“On June 8, at least 22 people, including women and children, were killed and several others injured when they fell into a ravine hundreds of feet below a van in Pakistan’s mountainous Balochistan province,” an official said.
The vehicle fell into a ravine when the driver apparently failed to negotiate a sharp turn in the mountainous area of Akhtarzai near Qilla Saifullah, which is at an altitude of 1,572 metres.
22 people died in the accident and a child was injured dawn Newspaper reported.
Hafiz Muhammad Qasim, deputy commissioner of Jhob district, said the passenger bus was on its way from Loralia to Jhob town.
“The vehicle fell from the top of a hill near Akhtarzai. We have recovered 10 bodies so far as rescue operations are difficult due to the deep gorge in the mountains,” he said.
An alert has been sounded in nearby hospitals and teams have been called in from Quetta to assist in the rescue operation.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari expressed grief over the accident and urged the authorities to ensure adequate medical treatment for the injured, calling for steps to be taken to avoid such accidents in future.
In the country’s restive Balochistan province, hundreds of people lose their lives in road accidents every year due to the inaccessible and mountainous terrain.