A bus in southwest Pakistan crashed into a ravine and caught fire, killing at least 40 people on board, a government official said on Sunday.
The bus was traveling between Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, to the port city of Karachi overnight when it crashed into a bridge pier and fell into the gorge, according to reports duska national newspaper.
Hamza Anjum, a government official, told reporters at the scene of the accident that he believes the bus was carrying 48 passengers and that the driver may have fallen asleep during the long-distance journey. The two cities are more than 360 miles apart.
Mr Anjum said three people were rescued from the bus after the accident, but one of them died on the way to hospital. He added that the bodies recovered from the rubble were “unrecognizable” and that DNA testing was needed to identify them.
Pakistan holds one of the world’s worst records for fatal road accidents. Local authorities blame poorly maintained highways and vehicles, as well as reckless driving with drivers who break the rules, for the tens of thousands of such deaths each year. A World Health Organization report in December 2018 named more than 27,000 deaths annually in traffic accidents in Pakistan.
In November, 20 people were killed when a small bus crashed into a deep, flood-filled ditch in southern Pakistan.
