22 killed as passenger van plunges into ravine in Qila Saifullah

QUETTA: At least 22 people, including women and children, were killed as a passenger van plunged into a deep ravine in Balochistan’s Qila Saifullah on Wednesday (today).

According to Qila Saifullah’s Deputy Commissioner Hafiz Muhammad Qasim Kakar, the ill-fated passenger van was travelling from Loralai to Zhob when it fell into the ravine at Akhtarzai Adola area of Qila Saifullah.

According to initial reports, 10 passengers died on the spot while several others suffered serious injuries, he said. Later, 12 more passengers succumbed to their injuries, taking the death toll from the accident to 22.

The deputy commissioner said that they were facing difficulties in shifting the injured and the bodies to the hospital due to the tough hilly area.

Qasim Kakar said that an emergency has been imposed at all the hospitals in the area to facilitate the victims. Of the injured, a 13-year-old boy’s condition is said to be critical, said the deputy commissioner.