Over 40 passengers charred to death in Lasbela bus crash
Overspeeding coach was travelling to Karachi from Queta when it fell into the ravine and caught fire; DNA tests to be conducted for the identification of the deceased, says AC Hamza Anjum; leaders express grief over tragic incident
At least 41 people were killed ater a passenger coach fell into a ravine in Lasbela district, Balochistan province, on Sunday, officials said.
Lasbela Assistant Commissioner Hamza Anjum, while confirming the incident, said that the vehicle, with nearly 48 passengers on board, was travelling from Queta to Karachi.
“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,” he said.
Anjum said “the dead bodies... are beyond recognition.” He said 40 corpses were retrieved from the wreck alongside three injured, one of whom died shortly ater. Anjum added that three people, including a child and a woman, have been rescued alive. However, one of the injured persons succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital. He feared that the number of casualties could further increase to 48.
He added that the bodies recovered from the wrecked bus were unidentifiable and DNA testing will be done for the identification of the deceased.
Head of the local rescue service Asghar Ramazan told AFP the bus had been loaded with containers of oil. “When the bus fell down, it immediately caught fire,” he said. The oil “caused the fire to flare up so much that it was difficult to control,” he added.
President Dr Arif Alvi And Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed their deep grief and sorrow over loss of lives in a tragic bus accident in Lasbela.
The president and the prime minister expressed their condolences to the bereaved families and prayed for the high ranks of the departed souls, President Secretariat and PM Office Media Wings said in separate press releases. They also prayed for the early recovery of the injured people.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah expressed deep sense of shock over the tragic incident and ordered the Karachi authorities to extend cooperation to the Lasbela authorities to facilitate the heirs of victims.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has also expressed his sorrow and profound grief over deaths in tragic Lasbela coach incident.
The charred brown husk of the vehicle chassis smoked on a dry riverbed under the bridge on Sunday, according to video released by the provincial government.
A team of men used heavy machinery to move the twisted metal aside and pull out the burnt remains, which were then shrouded in white cloth.
It had been travelling overnight between Balochistan’s provincial capital of Queta and the southern port city of Karachi.
“It is feared that the driver may have fallen asleep,” Anjum said, also mentioning the possibility he had been speeding during the long-distance trip.
“We will investigate the causes of the accident,” he said, adding that DNA tests would be needed to determine the identity of the remains, which had been “badly mutilated.”
In a separate development, six people were killed in horrific accident between a motorcycle and a car near Gajiani village in Chishtian district of Punjab province on Sunday.
Rescuers and police said a speeding car hit a motorcycle before colliding with a roadside tree.
The injured and the dead were shited to a nearby hospital. Preliminary investigations showed that the incident happened due to over speeding. The car occupants were going to atend a marriage ceremony.
Ramshackle highways, lax safety measures and reckless driving contribute to Pakistan’s dire road safety record. Passenger buses are frequently crammed to capacity and seatbelts are not commonly worn, meaning high death tolls from single-vehicle accidents are common.
According to World Health Organisation estimates, more than 27,000 people were killed on Pakistan’s roads in 2018. In June last year, at least 22 people were killed, including nine members of a family, when a passenger van fell into a ravine near Qila Saifullah, Balochistan.
The van, carrying 23 passengers and en route to Zhob from Loralai, fell into the 200-foot-deep ravine when it reached the Akhtarzai area. The lone survivor - a 13-year-old boy - was taken to hospital in a critical condition, said Hafiz Muhammad Qasim Kakar, the deputy commissioner of Qila Saifullah.