SAHIWAL/FAISALABAD, Nov 20: Twenty-three participants of a marriage party died and over 30 sustained injuries when the bus they were travelling in fell down from a flyover in Chichawatni, 50 kms from here, on Saturday morning.

The marriage party belonging to Nishatabad (Faisalabad) was returning from Sadiqabad when the driver lost control over the vehicle while crossing the Chichawatni railway flyover at about 4.30am.

The bus hit the railing and fell from a height of 35 feet. The vehicle was badly smashed after hitting the ground.

Twenty-two people died on the spot. Another 30 sustained injuries and rushed to different hospitals. One of them succumbed later.

The Faisalabad Allied Hospital received bodies of 18 people who included three women. The bodies were later handed over to their relatives. Seven people were admitted to the hospital in serious condition.

Emotional scenes were witnessed at the house of the bridegroom, Khurram Shahzad, and in the neighbourhood as several of the victims lived in the same locality.

The groom and his bride were travelling in another vehicle. Babar, a brother of the groom, was among the dead.

Twenty-two of the deceased were identified as M. Anwar s/o M. Ishaque, Tanveer Ahmad, Muhammad Afzal s/o Abdul Ghani, Mohammad Nazir s/o Mohammad Ali, Babar s/o Mushtaq, Abbas s/o Ghulam Mohammad, Gulzar Maseeh, Irfan s/o Taj Din, Khalid Mehmood s/o Haji Abdul Ghafoor, Zeeshan s/o Anar, M.Hassan s/o Iftikhar, Iqbal s/o Allah Ditta, Mohammad Hayat, Manzoor s/o Ghulam Qadir, Abdul Khaliq s/o Wali Mohammad, Maryam w/o Jamil, Liaqat Ali, Younas Malik, Zeeshan Gondal s/o Munir Ahmad, Abbas, Razia Bibi and five-year-old Bushra.

The injured included Shahid Iqbal, Luqman, Shoaib, Rukhsana Bibi, Aamir, Qamar, Waseem, Kabiran Bibi, Siddiq But, Shehzad, Tayyeba, Khalid, M. Azam, Nadeem, M. Rasheed, Waseem Maseeh, M. Farooq, Kashif, Naseem Akhtar and Aslam.