At least 41 people were killed after a passenger coach fell into a ravine in Balochistan’s Lasbela on Sunday morning. According to footage widely shared on social media, dozens of people were combing through the wreckage and ambulance workers were carrying dead bodies out of the debris.
Assistant commissioner Lasbela Hamza Anjum confirmed the incident, saying the number of dead was “more than 30”. He added that the vehicle had approximately 48 passengers on board, and was travelling from Quetta to Karachi.
“Due to speeding, the coach crashed into the pillar of a bridge while taking a U-turn near Lasbela. The vehicle subsequently careened into a ravine and then caught fire,” he added.
Three people, including a child and a woman, have been rescued alive and shifted to Civil Hospital, Lasbela. One of them succumbed to their injuries en route to the hospital.
As per district police officer (DPO) Israr Umrani, forty one bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, some of which were “burned beyond recognition”.
Anjum also concurred that the bodies recovered from the wrecked bus were unidentifiable, and DNA testing would have to be done to identify the deceased.
A passenger bus toppled down in #bela area of #Balochistan as per assistant comisioner 19 dead bodies have been extracted till now & the rescue operation is underway. Increase of death toll feared . In past such accidents have taken place in vehicles ladden with smuggled fuel pic.twitter.com/uJyCn2DDbK
— Daniyal Butt (@butt_daniyal) January 29, 2023
It is being suspected that the bus may have been illegally stocked or overloaded with smuggled petroleum, which caused the bus to lose control and fall into the ravine, as well as catch fire.
