A bus carrying tourists plunged into a ravine near the Thalichi area in Gilgit Baltistan’s Diamer district on Sunday, killing at least five people and injuring 13 others.

Police and rescue teams reached the site of the incident and began efforts to shift the injured and dead to nearby hospitals.

Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Haji Gulber Khan expressed deep grief over the loss of lives and ordered that medical aid be provided free of charge to those injured.

In a statement issued by the Gilgit Commissioner, Najeeb Alam said attempts were being made to contact the families of the deceased to arrange the handover of bodies.

In two traffic accidents earlier this month, five tourists died and 13 were injured in GB’s Hunza - when a van fell into a ravine and another crashed into a mountain.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has expressed his grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the incident.

“I am saddened to hear the news about the incident of a tourist bus,” he said in a statement.

The minister condoled with the bereaved families of bus passengers, who lost their lives in the incident.