35 dead in two Pakistan bus accidents: Rescue officials

PUNJAB

At least 35 people were killed in two separate bus accidents in Pakistan on Sunday, including 12 pilgrims who had been trying to reach Iran, rescue officials said.

At least 23 people were killed when the bus they were travelling in plunged into a ravine near the town of Azad Pattan on the border between Punjab province and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"23 dead till now, including 15 men, six women and one child," said Farooq Ahmed, a spokesman for Rescue 1122 emergency services in Punjab.

In a separate incident, 12 men died when their bus crashed into a ravine on the Makran Coastal Highway in Balochistan, after being prevented from crossing into Iran.

"This is a particularly treacherous tract of road, with many twists and turns. The driver was over speeding and the bus fell into a deep ravine," police official Aslam Bangulzai, who was at the scene, told AFP.

The accident occurred in a mountainous area, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the nearest town of Uthal and 500 kilometres from the Iran border town of Pishin.

"The bus was carrying pilgrims on its way to Arbaeen (pilgrimage) but was turned back at the Iran border because their documents had some problems," said Hamood Ur Rehman, a senior government official in the nearby district of Gwadar.

Road accidents with high fatalities are common in Pakistan, where safety measures are lax, driver training is poor and transport infrastructure often decrepit.

On Saturday, the bodies of 28 pilgrims who died in a bus crash in Iran were returned to Pakistan.

The bus was carrying 51 Pakistani pilgrims who were passing through Iran to attend the Arbaeen commemoration in Iraq, one of the biggest events of the Shiite calendar, when it overturned and caught fire in front of a checkpoint in Yazd province on Tuesday night, Iranian state TV reported.