RAWALPINDI - A passenger bus fell into a ravine here at Aaro Kas area on Saturday evening, killing at least one child and injuring 29 others including women.
The accident took place on a mountainous area at 6:35pm. The reason for the incident was told to be brake failure; however, police said the experts would examine the bus as to how it went out of control.
Pakistan Institute of Medical Center (PIMS) doctors said a total of 30 injured were shifted to the hospital by rescuers. A child Ahsan, one and half-years-old, succumbed to his injuries. The condition of five passengers was critical, they added.
Rescue 1122 and police said that the ill-fated passenger bus (LRO-5690) was on way back from Murree to Islamabad when at Aaro Kas it skidded into the 100 feet deep ravine. In the incident, 30 passengers injured among them four were male.
A large number of locals turned up to the scene and started rescue operation. However, the rain, darkness and snowfall halted rescue operation. Some locals were seen shifting the injured to near by hospitals before arrival of rescue teams and police.
A local, who took part in rescue operation, told this scribe by phone that Rescue 1122 and others searched for survivors in the wreckage of the bus. A police official said the bus driver was unconscious.
“The bus lost control near Aaro Kas, a very sharp turn, and plunged into ravine. The bus hit several trees before plunging some 100 feet off,” another eyewitness said.
Two injured women while talking to The Nation in the hospital said that all the family members were returning in a very jolly mood from a trip to Murree when all of a sudden the bus plunged into an abyss about 100 feet deep. “Every thing was okay. The driver was driving the bus carefully. We don’t know what happened. We got unconscious and saw the rescue workers shifting us to ambulances when we restored to our senses,” they said.
District Emergency Officer (DEO) Rescue 1122 Dr Akhtar Abdul Rehman, while talking to media, said that a total of 29 passengers injured in the incident while a child died in the hospital.
He said that the reason of incident could not be known yet; nonetheless, the locals said the bus turned turtle owing to brake failure.
According to data, provided by PIMS administration, the injured were identified as Khalida, Shabana, Tahira, Shabnum, Safia, Shumaila, Anam and Mehfooza.
It was not immediately clear why the bus driver lost control of the vehicle, but a team of technical experts would look into the matter, said a police official, who was part of rescue operation.
Till fling of this report, the rescue operation was continued in the area and the rescuers were facing hardships due to harsh weather conditions.