DANA SAR: At least 40 people were killed and eight others injured after a passenger bus travelling from Quetta to Peshawar plunged into a ravine in the Dana Sar area between Zhob and Dera Ismail Khan on Friday, local authorities said.
The ill-fated passenger bus was travelling on Zhob-Sherani Highway in the border area between Balochitan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) when it met the accident in the Danasar area of Sherani District.
District officials said the bus veered off the road in the mountainous Dana Sar region, resulting in one of the deadliest road accidents in the area in recent years.
Shahid Rind, spokesperson for the Balochistan chief minister, has confirmed that the death toll had risen to 40, while eight injured passengers had been shifted to hospital for treatment. He said district authorities, rescue agencies and other relevant departments were continuing relief operations and providing medical assistance to the injured.
According to preliminary information, the bus was carrying not only its own passengers but also passengers from another bus that had broken down earlier during the journey, Rind said.
An emergency has been declared in the hospital of Zhob and Sherani districts while the rescue personnel were facing difficulties due to the mountainous terrain.
Soon after receiving the information about the accident, chief minister’s staff officer Syed Amin contacted the officials of the relevant district administrations, immediately setting off a rescue and relief operation.
District Sherani Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hazrat Wali Khan Kakar confirmed that at least 20 people were dead and 10 injured in the horrible accident.
Wali Khan Kakar said that after receiving the report, district administration, rescue teams, along with ambulances, rushed to the spot and shifted the injured and dead bodies to a hospital.
The Deputy Commissioner Sherani said that the rescue operation was still under way.
According to Deputy Commissioner Kakar, the passenger bus fell into a deep gorge in the mountainous Danasar area, located near the junction of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have expressed profound grief and sorrow over the passenger bus accident on the Zhob-Sherani Highway.
The president, in a statement, prayed for peace for the deceased souls and expressed his heartfelt condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families.
The President prayed for the swift and complete recovery of the injured, directing the relevant authorities to ensure the provision of all possible and best medical facilities to the injured.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, in a separate statement, prayed for peace for the departed souls and expressed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families of the victims. He also prayed for the early recovery of those injured in the accident and directed the relevant authorities to provide them with all possible medical assistance.
Chairman Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani expressed profound grief and sorrow over the tragic passenger bus accident in Zhob, Balochistan.
Acting Chairman Senate Syedaal Khan Nasar, expressed profound grief and sorrow over the tragic passenger bus accident in Zhob District, Balochistan, which resulted in the loss of precious human lives.
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