At least 35 killed and dozens injured in 2 separate bus accidents in Pakistan, officials say
Two separate bus accidents hours apart in Pakistan on Sunday left at least 35 people dead and dozens more injured, officials said.
The first happened when a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims returning from Iraq through Iran fell from a highway into a ravine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, police and officials said. The driver lost control on the Makran coastal highway when the brakes failed while passing through Lasbela district in Baluchistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said.
Mohammad Yousaf / AP
Authorities in Baluchistan said arrangements were being made to send the bodies of slain pilgrims to Punjab province for burial. Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister in Punjab, also expressed her condolences over the accident.
28 Pakistani pilgrims were killed in a bus crash in neighboring Iran while heading to Iraq. A Pakistani military plane flew the bodies of the victims home on Saturday to be buried in the southern Sindh province.
Thousands of Shiites travel to Iraq’s holy city of Karbala to commemorate Arbaeen — Arabic for the number 40 — to mark the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Hussein, who became a symbol of resistance during the tumultuous first century of Islam’s history.
Bus accidents are common in Pakistan, mostly because of the negligence of the drivers who often violate traffic rules.
Source: cbsnews.com