The Pakistani police said on Friday, May 3rd (May 14) that a bus fell into a river in the northern mountainous region of the country, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more.
The bus was traveling from the capital Islamabad to Gilgit, when the driver lost control of the vehicle early this morning near the town of Chalas and fell into a deep gorge where the Indus River flows.
Azmat Shah, chief of police in Chalas, told AFP: “Local clerics announced the news of the incident through the loudspeaker of the mosque and asked people to donate blood for the injured.”
The police official said that the rescue operation has now been completed and the condition of five people out of the 21 injured has been shown to be critical.
Fatal traffic accidents are common in Pakistan, where safety measures are lax and often attributed to driver inattention and poor transport infrastructure.