Passenger bus overturns in eastern Pakistan, killing 15

Passenger bus overturns in eastern Pakistan, killing 15

2012-03-27 17:55:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

SHEIKHUPURA, Pakistan (BNO NEWS) -- Fifteen people were killed on late Monday afternoon when a speeding passenger bus overturned in eastern Pakistan, police said on Tuesday. Dozens more were rushed to nearby hospitals.

The accident happened at around 5:30 p.m. local time near Safdarabad in Sheikhupura District of Punjab province when the driver of the bus, which was carrying 55 people, lost control while attempting to make a sharp turn. The vehicle rolled over several times before coming to a halt.

A local police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the bus was traveling from Sangla Hill in Punjab's Nankana Sahib District to the provincial capital of Lahore. "The accident happened as a result of speeding," he said.

At least fifteen people were killed as a result of the accident while 40 others were rushed to nearby hospitals in Sangla Hill and Safdarabad. At least ten of those injured were said to be in a critical condition, and several of them are not expected to survive.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan with more than 5,500 fatalities in 2007, according to the most recent figures released by national police. Many accidents are the result of poor infrastructure and the disregard of traffic laws.

In early February, eleven people were killed when a passenger van went off a road and plunged down a ravine in Sher Bangal, which is located in the Upper Dir district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. The nine other people on board were injured and taken to a local hospital.

In November 2011, at least 23 people were killed when a van collided head-on with a passenger bus on a highway near the historic town of Thatta in Sindh province. The speeding passenger van was attempting to overpass a bus when it crashed into a bus coming from the opposite direction.

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