Pakistan: 25 people killed after bus-car collides in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], February 7 (ANI): A bus carrying over 40 passengers hit a car in Pakistan's Upper Kohistan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and both vehicles fell into the water, killing 25 people, SAMAA reported.
According to the Gilgit-Baltistan's Diamer Superintendent of Police (SP) Sher Khan, their team pulled out 25 bodies from the vehicles, while 15 injured have been shifted to a hospital in Chilas. The bus was traveling from Gilgit to Rawalpindi on the Karakoram Highway.
The accident occurred near the Satiyal checkpost near Diamer. Rescue efforts are underway by locals and police personnel.
Upper Kohistan district police chief Tahir Iqbal said there were six occupants in the car, out of whom five have been killed. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Asif Zardari have expressed grief over the tragic accident.
The minister has sought all-out efforts to save the lives of those injured, according to SAMAA.
A similar incident took place on January 29 when a passenger coach fell into a ravine in Pakistan's Balochistan and killed 41 people. The incident occurred in the Lasbela district of Balochistan.
Lasbela Assistant Commissioner Hamza Anjum has confirmed the incident. Anjum stated that the vehicle carrying 48 passengers was travelling from Quetta to Karachi, as per the Dawn report. He said that the vehicle crashed into the pillar of a bridge near Lasbela and subsequently fell into a ravine and caught fire. Hamza Anjum feared that the number of casualties could rise to 48.
"Due to speeding, the coach crashed into the pillar of a bridge while taking a U-turn near Lasbela. The vehicle subsequently careened into a ravine and then caught fire," Dawn quoted Hamza Anjum as saying.
According to Hamza Anjum, three people, including a child and a woman have been rescued from the accident site, according to Dawn. One of the injured persons succumbed to his injuries while being taken to hospital. He added that the bodies recovered from the wrecked bus were unidentifiable. Anjum said that DNA testing will be conducted to identify the deceased, reported SAMAA. (ANI)