LASBELA: After a passenger bus crashed into a ravine and caught fire, the dead toll from the bus accident that happened close to the Chinki stop in the Bela neighbourhood of the Lasbela district increased to 44, according to a report on Sunday.
During the rescue effort at the scene of the accident, four injured persons were hauled out of the bus.
The bus, which had at least 48 people on board, was travelling from Quetta to Karachi when the tragedy occurred in the early hours of Sunday.
Bela Assistant Commissioner Hamza Anjum Nadeem reported that the rescue effort has been concluded.
Nadeem reported the number of passengers and casualties on the bus and added that 40 bodies were removed from the destroyed vehicle. He said that the bodies could not be identified. While the injured passengers were being transported to Civil Hospital, Lasbela, he added that DNA testing will be used to identify the deceased.
Nadeem has previously stated that the rescuers initially encountered difficulties because it was dark in the morning because of the chilly weather.
The bus lost control while being driven at a high rate of speed, according to the police, and crashed into a ravine. They said that the rescue effort was started as soon as teams from the fire department, rescue services, and law enforcement authorities arrived at the scene of the accident.
They said that efforts were being made to completely put out the fire.
Mansehra mishap
A similar event occurred earlier this month when a bus headed for Muzaffarabad crashed into a ravine in the Batrasi neighbourhood of Mansehra, killing a five-month-old baby and injuring 16 other occupants.
The injured were transported by the police and members of Rescue 1122 to a nearby hospital, where five of them were reported to be in a critical condition.