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New Delhi : At least 40 people were killed and eight others injured after an overcrowded passenger bus veered off the Sherani–Zhob highway and plunged into a deep ravine near the Danasar area of Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Friday.
The bus, travelling from Quetta to Islamabad, crashed after reportedly becoming overcrowded when additional passengers boarded the vehicle en route following the breakdown of another bus.
Rescue teams launched a massive operation soon after the accident, recovering 40 bodies from the gorge. The injured were rushed to the Trauma Centre in Zhob by Medical Emergency Response Centre teams for treatment.
Emergency authorities deployed six ambulances, 12 emergency medical technicians and 10 light transport vehicles to the site, while rescue personnel from neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also joined the operation.
Sherani Deputy Commissioner Hazrat Wali Kakar said the bus had originally departed Quetta with 36 passengers, but took on several more travellers along the way, making it overcrowded before the fatal crash.
Local administration officials and rescue workers continued efforts to retrieve the victims and transport the deceased. Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the exact cause of the tragedy.
