LASBELA: The death toll of the ghastly bus accident in Lasbela has risen to 39 as the said number of bodies were recovered from the ill-fated bus that careened into a ravine near Chinki stop in the Bela area of the Lasbela district this morning, Geo News reported.
Apart from the deaths, at least four people have been taken out of the bus alive but injured.
The passenger bus with at least 48 on board was on its way to Karachi from Quetta when it fell into a ravine and caught fire in the early hours of Sunday.
Bela Assistant Commissioner Hamza Anjum Nadeem shared the number of passengers on board and casualties, saying that the bodies taken out of the wrecked bus are unidentifiable. He said that DNA testing will be done for the identification of the deceased, while the injured passengers were being shifted to Civil Hospital, Lasbela.
The official said that the rescue work was still underway and will be completed within an hour.
Earlier, Nadeem said that the rescue workers faced obstacles as it was still dark in the morning due to the cold weather.
Meanwhile, the police said that the accident happened due to speeding as the bus went out of the driver’s control and was careened into the ravine. They said that teams of the fire brigade, rescue services and law-enforcement agencies’ personnel arrived at the site of the accident and launched a rescue operation.
Efforts to completely douse the blaze were underway, they added.