At least 18 killed, 41 injured in road accident in Pakistan

Islamabad, Jun 11 (EFE).- At least 18 people died and another 41 were injured as a speeding bus overturned in southeastern Pakistan, a police source told EFE on Friday.

The accident occurred late Thursday in the district of Khuzdar in Balochistan province, according to local police spokesperson Ghulam Hussain.

“The accident occurred because of over speeding,”said Hussain, adding that the bus was traveling between the localities of Wadh and Dadu.

The spokesman explained that the vehicle was carrying pilgrims and that most of the deceased were traveling on the roof of the bus.

Pakistan has one of the highest traffic accident rates in the world owing to poor infrastructure and ill-maintained and overcrowded vehicles.

Last year at least 19 people died and another 15 were injured at a level crossing when a train rammed into a passenger bus carrying pilgrims from the Sikh minority group in the northern province of Punjab.

In 2017, at least 180 people were killed when a tanker, carrying gasoline, overturned in eastern Pakistan, making it one of the worst traffic accidents in the country.

Transport accidents also frequently involve trains in the country, given that its rail network dates back to the time when it was a colony of the British Empire, and from which it gained independence in 1947.

Earlier this week, around 62 people died as two trains collided in the province of Sindh in southern Pakistan. EFE

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