34 killed in Pakistan bus accidents

Two bus accidents in northeast and southwest Pakistan killed at least 34 people on Sunday, the authorities said.

Twelve pilgrims died on the Makran Coastal Highway in the southwest, the interior ministry said, while a rescue official said 22 had died when their passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in Pakistan-ruled Kashmir.

Rescue coordinator Rawalpindi Muhammad Usman said the second bus had 25 passengers, including six women and a child, of whom 22 had died and one was critically injured. All the bodies have been recovered from the ravine, he said.

The interior ministry, however, said 29 had died in that crash.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in a statement expressed "heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the families of the deceased in both accidents."

On Wednesday, a bus carrying Pakistani pilgrims overturned in central Iran, killing 28 passengers and injuring another 23 people.