36 dead in bus accidents in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD – At least 36 people were killed and dozens injured in two bus accidents in Pakistan several hours apart on Sunday, officials said.

The first incident occurred when a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims returning from Iraq via Iran plunged off a highway into a ravine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, police and authorities said. The driver lost control on the Makran coastal highway when the brakes failed as he passed through Lasbela district in Balochistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said.

Authorities in Balochistan said preparations were being made to transport the bodies of the pilgrims to Punjab province for burial. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expressed her condolences after the crash.

Hours later, 24 people were killed when a bus plunged into a ravine in Kahuta district in the eastern Punjab province, police and authorities said. They included two women and a child. Omar Farooq, a senior government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said there were no survivors.

Local police initially said seven people were injured, but doctors and government officials later said all the bus passengers had died in the accident. Raja Moazzam, a rescue official, said most of the bodies had been identified.

According to local residents, the bus accident occurred early Sunday. Locals were initially involved in the rescue work, and emergency services ambulances arrived later.

The bus was en route to the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is administered by Pakistan and claimed by both India and Pakistan, when it plunged off the Panna bridge in Kahuta district, said Sardar Waheed, a senior government official, adding that heavy equipment was being used to lift the wreckage and ensure no one was trapped underneath.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in separate statements, expressed their condolences and grief over the two accidents and urged the authorities to ensure the best possible medical care for the injured pilgrims.

Sunday's accidents came days after 28 Pakistani pilgrims were killed in a bus crash in neighboring Iran en route to Iraq. A Pakistani military plane flew the victims' bodies home on Saturday for burial in the southern province of Sindh.

Thousands of Shiites travel to the holy city of Karbala in Iraq to mark Arba'een (Arabic for the number 40), commemorating the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who became a symbol of resistance in the turbulent first century of Islamic history.

Bus accidents are common in Pakistan and are mostly due to the negligence of drivers who often violate traffic rules.