Photo: AP PHOTO/PICTURE ALLIANCE / copyright
A black day was experienced this Sunday (01.29.2023) in Pakistan, where the collapse of a bus and the sinking of a boat carrying a group of schoolchildren who were on an excursion left at least 54 people dead and a dozen injured. The tragedies occurred in the south and northwest of the East Asian country.
The first accident occurred in Balochistan province, where a bus fell into a ravine and left 41 dead. “The bus crashed into a security barrier after taking a sharp turn, fell face down into a 15-meter ravine and caught fire,” Bela deputy city commissioner Hamza Ajum told the EFE news agency. It is suspected that the driver fell asleep.
The machine was traveling from the eastern city of Quetta to southern Karachi with 48 passengers on board, of whom only seven survived. The fire started because the bus was carrying diesel on the roof. “Almost all the bodies are burned to such an extent that they cannot be identified,” Anjum said, so they have been flown to Karachi for DNA testing.
ship sinking
A little later, the sinking of a boat carrying around thirty students from a local school in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa left thirteen minors dead. The students, ages 7 to 14, were traveling across Tandam Lake for a field trip to a well-known tourist spot in the area.
Local police spokesman Mohammad Fawad said four children were rescued from the water and are in critical condition. The rescue operations continued this day, to find the five schoolchildren who are still missing. The causes of the tragedy are unknown, although these vessels normally fail to comply with safety regulations.
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