44 killed, four injured in Lasbela bus accident

Lasbela: At least 44 people died and four others were wounded in an accident after a passenger plunged into a ravine and caught fire near the Chinki stop in the Bela area of the Lasbela district on Sunday.

According to a private news channel, the accident took place in the early hours of Sunday as the bus was on the route from Quetta to Karachi.

The Bela Assistant Commissioner Hamza Anjum Nadeem said there were 48 passengers on board the ill-fated bus, the said number of bodies and injured passengers have been taken out, so far.

He stated: “The rescue operation is underway, the deceased and injured had been shifted to the Civil Hospital, Lasbela”.

The identities of the victims and injured are yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile, the police said that the accident happened due to over-speeding as the bus went out of the driver’s control and was careened into the ravine that resulted in a fire.

They said that teams of the fire brigade, rescue services, and law enforcement agencies’ personnel arrived at the site of the accident and launched a rescue operation.

Efforts to completely douse the blaze were underway, they added.