Pakistan wedding disaster as bus carrying guests plunges into river killing at least 18

A bus carrying wedding guests plunged into the Indus River in northern Pakistan killing at least 18 people - as a desperate search for bodies continues.

The horrific incident happened in the Baltistan region on Tuesday as the bus was heading to Chakwal, a city in Punjab province, government spokesman Faizullah Farqan said. He said a search for bodies continued, and so far only one woman had been found alive and was being treated at a hospital. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari offered condolences and asked rescuers to expedite efforts to find missing passengers. Police said it was unclear what caused the crash, and officers were yet to record the lone survivor’s statement.

Road accidents are common in Pakistan due to poor infrastructure and disregard for traffic laws and safety standards. In August, 36 people were killed and dozens of others were injured in two separate bus crashes.

The first happened when a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims returning from Iraq through Iran fell from a highway into a ravine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring 32 others, police and officials said. The driver lost control on the Makran coastal highway when the brakes failed, while passing through Lasbela district in Baluchistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said.

Authorities in Baluchistan said that arrangements were being made to send the bodies of the pilgrims to Punjab province for burial. Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister in Punjab, expressed her condolences after the crash.

Hours later, 24 people were killed when a bus fell into a ravine in the Kahuta district of the eastern Punjab province, police and officials said, including two women and a child. Omar Farooq, a senior government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said there were no survivors. Initially, local police said that there were seven injured, but later doctors and government officials said that everyone onboard the bus died in the crash. Raja Moazzam, a rescue official, said most of the bodies had been identified.

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