MULTAN, Jan 8: At least 29 people, including a woman and two children, died and around 10 went missing when a minibus plunged into the Thal Canal on Thursday afternoon near Bhakhar, some 200kms from here.

The vehicle carrying 40 passengers, against its capacity of only 28, was on way to Goharwala from Bhakhar when in an attempt to save a bullock-cart coming in the opposite direction, it fell into the Thal canal that irrigates the districts of Khushab, Bhakhar and Leiah.

Bhakhar's executive district officer (health) Dr Mumtaz Ahmed told Dawn that rescuers had so far pulled out 29 bodies from the canal while only two persons, Mushtaq Ahmed and Abdul Hameed, could be rescued alive. Both were standing on the footboard of the minibus when it fell into the canal.

Among the dead, 26 were identified as minibus driver Hussain Shah, Karam Hussain, Kazim Hussain, Nasir Mehmood, Shakil Masih, Saifullah, Muhammad Khan, Tariq, Naseem Ijaz, Ghulam Raza Shah, Khizar Hayat, Ilayas Raza, Ghulam Muhammad, Sher Zaman, Noshair Zaman, Saqlain, Iqbal Hasan, Atta Muhammad, Yaqoob, Mukhtar Hussain, Abdul Razzaq, Allah Bakhsh, Muhammad Mustafa, Muhammad Khan, Abdul Aziz and Mureeda Bibi. Two of the three unidentified bodies lying at the Bakhar district headquarters hospital were said to be of the children.

Eyewitnesses say the minibus was overloaded with passengers as some of them were sitting even on its roof. The EDO (health) said the death toll might reach 40.