Bus Overload and Crash in Southwestern Pakistan Kills 40

A passenger bus plunged from a highway into a rocky ravine in southwestern Pakistan early Friday, killing 40 people and injuring eight others. The crash occurred in Dana Sar, a remote area near the border of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Rescue officials said the bus was carrying 48 passengers at the time.

The vehicle became overcrowded after its driver stopped to pick up passengers from another bus that had broken down, according to Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the Balochistan government. Rind said rescuers were working to identify the victims. Most casualties were identified through documents, but three bodies remained unidentified, regional administrator Hazrat Wali Kakar said.

One injured survivor told local media that passengers protested the additional pickups and that an argument followed in which one passenger grabbed the driver by the neck. The driver then lost control, the survivor said. The account could not be independently verified, and police said they were investigating the crash.

President Asif Ali Zardari expressed sorrow over the crash and offered condolences to the victims’ families. Reaching the wreckage site proved difficult, with emergency workers and paramilitary forces descending a steep mountainside to a ravine up to 25 meters deep before hauling bodies and injured passengers back up the slope.