At least 41 people were killed in the explosion of the bus that fell off a bridge in Pakistan on Sunday January 29. MUHAMMAD SALEEM / AP
At least 41 people died in the crash of a bus that exploded after falling off a bridge in south-west Pakistan, a government official said on Sunday January 29.
“The bodies are unrecognizable,” said Hamza Anjum, an official from Lasbela district in Balochistan province, where the accident occurred. Anjum said three survivors were rescued. The bus was carrying 48 people when it struck a pillar before going over the parapet of the bridge it was crossing, he said.
Traffic fatalities are high in Pakistan, with poor expressways, lax road safety and dangerous driving. Buses there are often overcrowded and seat belts are not widely used. Traffic accidents involving a single vehicle are common. According to the World Health Organization, more than 27,000 people died on Pakistan’s roads in 2018.
A little later, a ship with 25 to 30 students on a school trip capsized on Lake Tandam in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Northwest Pakistan). Ten children, aged 7 to 14, were found dead and eleven others rescued, six of them in serious condition.