Two separate bus crashes hours apart in Pakistan on Sunday (Aug. 25) killed at least 36 people and injured dozens more, officials said.
The first accident occurred when a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims returning from Iraq via Iran plunged off a highway into a ravine in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, police and officials said. The driver lost control on the Makran coastal highway when the brakes failed, as it passed through Lasbela district in Baluchistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said.
Authorities in Baluchistan said efforts were underway to send the pilgrims' bodies to Punjab province for burial. Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Punjab state, expressed condolences after the crash.
Hours later, 24 people, including two women and a child, were killed when a bus plunged into a ravine in Kahuta district of eastern Punjab province, police and officials said. Omar Farooq, a senior government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said there were no survivors.
Initially, local police said seven people were injured, but doctors and government officials later said everyone on the bus died in the crash. Raja Moazzam, a search and rescue official, said most of the bodies had been identified.
According to residents, the bus accident occurred early Sunday morning and locals initially joined the rescue efforts, and an ambulance from the emergency services crew arrived later.
The bus was heading to Pakistan’s disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir — claimed in full by both India and Pakistan — when it plunged from the Panna bridge in Kahuta district, said Sardar Waheed, a senior government official. He added that heavy equipment was being used to remove the wreckage to ensure no one was trapped underneath.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements, expressed condolences and grief over the two accidents. They asked authorities to ensure provision of the best medical care to the injured pilgrims.
Sunday's crash came days after 28 Pakistani pilgrims were killed in a bus crash in neighboring Iran while en route to Iraq. A Pakistani military plane flew the victims' bodies home on Saturday for burial in the southern province of Sindh.
Thousands of Shiite Muslims traveled to the holy city of Karbala in Iraq to mark Arbaeen — Arabic for 40 — to commemorate the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, who became a symbol of resistance during the tumultuous first century of Islamic history.
Bus accidents are common in Pakistan, mostly due to the negligence of drivers, who often violate traffic signs. (lt/ab)
