By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
No fewer than 27 people were killed and dozens more were injured when a speeding passenger bus plunged off a highway into a rocky gorge in western early Wednesday, officials said.
The crash happened as the bus was traveling in Washuk district from Turbat, the second largest city in Balochistan province, to Quetta, the provincial capital.
“The driver was navigating a turn in a mountainous area when the vehicle lost control and fell into a ravine,” the French AFP news agency quoted local government official Ismail Mengal as saying.
Mengal said rescue workers and police responded quickly and provided first aid to the injured passengers. Police took the dead and injured to a hospital, where some of the injured were in critical condition.
In a statement, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti expressed grief at the loss of life and ordered that the injured be given the best possible medical treatment.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued separate statements expressing grief over the deaths.
What caused the crash?
Authorities said they were investigating the cause of the incident. “It could be that the driver fell asleep or was speeding, which led to the accident,” Mengal said.
Meanwhile, the German DPA news agency cited sources as saying it was the extreme heat that caused the bus tires to burst, leading to the fatal accident.
Most of Pakistan has been sweltering in a heat wave for a second week, with temperatures in some cities soaring above 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
The heat wave, the first of the summer , was expected to continue for another week.
Poor roads, poorly maintained vehicles and a poor safety record cause scores of accidents each year in Pakistan, killing thousands, according to government statistics.
In May, a killing 20 people. In April, at least and 41 injured in a crash while traveling to a shrine in Balochistan’s Hub district.