At least 26 killed, 13 wounded as passenger bus crashes into mountain in Diamer

At least 26 killed, 13 wounded as passenger bus crashes into mountain in Diamer

Diamer (Staff Report/Agencies): At least 26 people were killed and more than dozen others were injured when a passenger bus rammed into a mountain in Babusar Pass on Sunday.

The passenger bus was travelling from Skardu to Rawalpindi when it crashed into a mountain while negotiating a curve on Babusar Pass in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan early on Sunday.

According to GB government spokesperson Faizullah Firaq, the deceased and injured, which included Pakistan Army troops, have been shifted to the district headquarters hospital in Chilas, where 12 of the 15 passengers were in critical condition. An emergency has been declared at the DHQ hospital.

He added that the process of identifying the deceased was underway.

Police spokesperson Mohammad Wakeel told media the passenger bus, belonging to a private company, had departed from Skardu yesterday night for Rawalpindi.

He said that early Sunday morning, the driver lost control of the bus and it collided against a mountain. It is not clear yet how the driver lost control of the vehicle.