TAXILA, Nov 26 Seven people were killed and 35 others injured when a bus fell off a bridge on the G.T. Road early Thursday, the Wah Cantonment police said.

National Highway and Motorway Police (NH&MP) Taxila circle in charge DSP Nawaz Tawana said the accident occurred near the Wah Gardens, adding that the bus was going from Lahore to Mansehra.

Seven passengers, including one woman, died at the scene while 35 more sustained injuries. The victims were taken to the POF (Pakistan Ordnance Factories) hospital Wah Cantt and the Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) hospital Hassanabdal.

On getting information, NH&MP staff, ambulances of Rescue 1122 and Edhi, and volunteers reached the site and initiated rescue work. Traffic on the busy G.T. Road was suspended for long time after the accident.

Surviving passengers and local police suspected that the accident took place when the bus driver fell asleep.

Three bodies were taken out easily but the four other corpses remained stuck in the mangled bus for some time, officials said.

Those killed were identified as Mohammad Banaras, Anisa Bibi, Fazal Karim, Gulraiz Khan, Rafaqat Ali and Ahmed Gul, while one body could not be identified, hospital sources said.

Three of the injured - Mohammad Naeem, Mohammad Rafeeq and Taj Khan - had been shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital in Rawalpindi due to their critical condition.—Amjad Iqbal