17 Pilgrims Dead, 38 Injured as Bus Falls in Ravine in Balochistan

Karachi: At least 17 died and 38 others were injured after a bus carrying pilgrims fell into a deep ravine near a border town of Pakistan's Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

According to the Balochistan police, the pilgrims were going to pay homage at the remote Muslim Sufi shrine Shah Noorani in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan when their bus fell into the ravine in on Wednesday. The place where the accident took place is almost near Karachi.

All the passengers belonged to Thatta town in the Sindh province, news agency PTI reported.

Following the incident, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi offered his condolences for the incident and stated that the driver lost control at a bend and the bus fell into the ravine.

“The vehicle left Thatta around 2 in the afternoon on Eid day and met with the accident around 8 pm on Eid day (Wednesday),” Naqvi said.

A local police official in Hub said the dead and injured were taken to the Civil Hospital in Karachi, where their bodies were identified, some of them as belonging to the same families.

Poor roads, lack of safety awareness and blatant disregard for traffic rules have often caused fatal road accidents in Pakistan.

(Inputs from PTI)