QUETTA: Forty people were killed and eight others injured when a Peshawar-bound passenger bus fell into a ravine just as it left the Dhanasar area of Balochistan’s Sherani district and crossed the provincial border into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan on Friday, officials said.

The number of casualties was first shared in a statement by the Balochistan chief minister’s aide for media and political affairs, Shahid Rind, who cited initial reports. It was later also confirmed by the KP Rescue 112.

Rind’s statement said rescue efforts were initiated soon after the accident on Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti’s directives.

“The district administrations from both provinces, rescue and other relevant departments are providing assistance to the affected persons,” the statement said on Friday morning. The statement added that the incident would be investigated to bring the facts to light.

A statement by KP Rescue 1122 said teams from Zhob emergency services and Rescue 1122 reached the site soon after receiving information about the accident and carried out rescue efforts.

The eight injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Zhob, while the bodies were initially taken to a nearby rural health centre. The bodies were later taken to Zhob DHQ, the Rescue 1122 statement said. It added that 48 passengers were aboard the bus when it fell into the ravine.

Sanaullah Sherani, the head of the emergency centre in Zhob, told AFP that the bus fell approximately 70 to 80 feet into the ravine, and rescue teams faced significant difficulties during the initial phase of the operation due to the rugged mountainous terrain.

Sherani Deputy Commissioner (DC) Wali Khan Kakar told Dawn that the bus left Quetta with 36 passengers, but more people from another broken-down bus boarded it midway.

Rind told AFP that the bus had left Quetta on Thursday evening, and as it had picked up extra passengers from another bus, it became overloaded.

The Balochistan chief minister had ordered an investigation into the causes of the accident, he said.

Condolences

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed sorrow over the loss of lives in the incident, state-run APP reported.

President Asif Ali Zardari also expressed grief and extended condolences to the victims’ families. According to the Presidency, he prayed for the swift recovery of the injured and directed the relevant departments to ensure the provision of the best possible medical facilities to the injured.

“The entire nation shares the grief of the affected families after this tragic incident,” the statement quoted him as saying.

Balochistan CM Bugti also posted his condolence message on X, expressing grief and extending condolences.

He said he had directed the relevant departments to expedite rescue efforts, provide the best medical facilities to the injured and ensure all possible assistance for the affected families.

“The Balochistan government is standing with the affected families at this difficult time,” he said.

In his condolence message, KP CM Sohail Afridi expressed grief and directed that the injured be provided with best medical facilities while the affected families were given all possible assistance.

A statement issued by the CM’s Office said he further directed the “relevant teams to remain in contact and cooperate with emergency services in Balochistan”.

“Moreover, ensure that those from KP among the affected are identified and are able to contact their families,” the statement quoted CM Afridi as saying. He also directed that the bodies of the deceased belonging to Balochistan should be taken to their native areas with “full respect”.

KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi said the accident was “extremely tragic” and that he shared the grief of the affected families. In a statement, he also directed that medical facilities be provided to the injured and all possible assistance to the affected families.

Today’s incident comes around two-and-a-half months after a vehicle plunged into a deep ravine in the Nawagai Asbanr area of KP’s Lower Dir area, leaving three women dead and two people injured.

Prior to that, a jeep carrying five passengers skidded off a wet, slippery road and plunged into a deep ravine in Upper Chitral in KP on March 31. As a result, three people, including a child, were killed and two others were injured.

Additional input from Saleem Shahid, Manzoor Ali and AFP