MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — At least 20 people including children were killed on Wednesday when a bus plunged into a ravine in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, officials said.
“The bus carrying up to 40 passengers was going to Rawalpindi when it plunged into a deep ravine while negotiating a sharp turn,” local disaster management authority official Raja Moazzam told AFP.
He blamed speeding for the accident and said “authorities are trying to retrieve bodies and injured from the wreckage”.
The accident took place in the remote area some 160 kilometres (95 miles) east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Another local administration official also confirmed the accident and put the toll at 23.
Pakistan has an appalling record of fatal road and rail accidents due to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
At least 63 people were killed in June when a high-speed passenger train knifed through carriages of another express that had derailed minutes earlier in Sindh province.
© Agence France-Presse