Lasbela
At least 41 passengers were killed and several others injured after a speeding passenger coach plunged into a ravine in Lasbela district of Balochistan on Sunday.
Rescue and local administration officials said the passenger coach was travelling to Karachi from Quetta when it fell into the ravine and caught fire. The Lasbela Assistant Commissioner said there were 48 passengers in the coach. He said owing to over-speeding the coach crashed into the pillar of a bridge while taking a U-turn near Lasbela.
The vehicle subsequently raced into a ravine and then caught fire. As many 41 bodies have been recovered from the burned vehicle up till now, while several injured have also been rescued.
The fire tenders and rescue teams reached the spot as soon as the incident was reported and extinguished the flames.
At the remote site of the bus crash, north of the city of Bela in Lasbela district, senior administration official Hamza Anjum said “the dead bodies…are beyond recognition”.
“It is feared that the driver may have fallen asleep,” Anjum said, also mentioning the possibility he had been speeding during the long-distance trip.
“We will investigate the causes of the accident,” he said, adding that DNA tests would be used to determine the identity of the remains which had been “badly mutilated”.
President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday expressed their deep grief and sorrow over loss of lives in a tragic bus accident in Lasbela, Balochistan.
The president and the prime minister expressed their condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the high ranks of the departed souls, President Secretariat and PM Office Media Wings said in separate press releases.
They also prayed for the early recovery of the injured people. The president stressed upon taking of practical steps to avert the occurrence of such like incidents in the future.
The prime minister directed for provision of all available medical facilities to the injured ones.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed deep sense of shock over the tragic incident and ordered the Karachi authorities to extend cooperation to the Lasbela authorities to facilitate the heirs of victims.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has expressed his sorrow and profound grief over deaths in tragic Lasbela coach incident.
The chief minister said that he was deeply shocked over the loss of precious lives in the incident.
The CM ordered that district administration should continue the rescue operation and immediately shift the injured to hospitals. He also issued directions that the best possible treatment should be provided to the injured.
He prayed to Allah Almighty for the absolution of the accident victims. He also prayed to Allah Almighty to give courage to bereaved families.
Ramshackle highways, lax safety measures and reckless driving contribute to Pakistan’s dire road safety record.
Passenger buses are frequently crammed to capacity and seatbelts are not commonly worn, meaning high death tolls from single vehicle accidents are common.
According to World Health Organization estimates, more than 27,000 people were killed on Pakistan’s roads in 2018.
