Peshawar: At least 14 people were killed and
40 others injured when the bus they were travelling in plunged
into a ravine in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said.
The bus was travelling from the southern port city of
Karachi to Thah Kot in the mountainous Kohistan region when it
fell into a 40-metre ravine near Battagram town, local
administration chief Musarrat Hussain said.
"It appears that its brakes failed while the bus was
descending on a zigzag road," he said to a news agency.
The dead included three women and five children, he said.
"We have received 14 bodies and 40 injured, some of them
are in a serious condition," local hospital chief Mehbub-ur
Rehman said.
Pakistan has the world's third-highest death rate from
traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads and reckless driving.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 20:42