Forty dead after overcrowded bus drops 80ft into a Pakistan ravine after ‘passenger grabbed driver by the neck’

Forty people have died after an overcrowded bus dropped 80ft into a Pakistan ravine after a "passenger grabbed a driver by the neck".

Another eight individuals were injured in the horror incident after the vehicle sped off a highway into a rocky ravine yesterday morning.

A spokesman for Balochistan Government, Shahid Rind, confirmed the tragic incident in the Dana Sar mountain range, which is a remote region between the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

So far, all but three bodies have been identified. Emergency services said the bus had 48 passengers on board when it sped off the mountain edge.

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Mr Rind explained the bus was holding its own passengers, as well as a group from another bus, which is said to be the cause of the conflict inside the bus.

One survivor told local media from his hospital bed that those aboard the bus were so up in arms that the reckless row culminated in one of the passengers "grabbing the driver by the neck".

As a result, it is understood the driver lost control of the vehicle, which led to the whole bus tumbling into the ravine.

Police confirmed an investigation into the incident's full circumstances was underway.

Officers carried injured individuals up the slope on stretches and brought the dead bodies back in makeshift carts, Noor Zaman, an official, confirmed.

Panicked relatives have been calling up local police and emergency services in a desperate bid to find out information about their loved ones.

Paramilitary forces were deployed to assist emergency services to complete the dangerous rescue mission, which took up to several hours.

Balochistan's Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said he was "deeply saddened" by the incident, demanding an inquiry into what had happened.

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He added: "I extend my condolences to the families of the deceased and pray for the swift recovery of the injured."

Road accidents are fairly common in Pakistan due to poor road conditions, unsafe driving practices and insufficient enforcement of traffic laws.

The danger posed was also compounded by the mountainous terrain.

Recent data has revealed there to be a gobsmacking 16,626 road accidents in Pakistan last year which led to 199 fatalities.

Just two years ago, at least 17 pilgrims were killed and 40 more were injured after a bus fell into a ravine.

The group was travelling to the same province, in Balochistan, to celebrate Eid.

And, just a few weeks ago, two bus accidents in north east and south west Pakistan killed at least 34 people, officials announced.

The Interior Ministry confirmed that 12 pilgrims died along the Makran Coastal Highway in the south west, while another official confirmed 22 died after the vehicle dived into a ravine in Kashmir.

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