15 dead, over 60 injured in deadly bus crash near Chakwal

• Driver loses control of vehicle after brakes fail. 
• Bus rams into three other vehicles on opposite track.
• About 64 injured passengers shifted to hospital.

At least 15 people were killed in a fatal bus accident with over 60 others wounded near the Kallar Kahar area of Chakwal, Geo News reported on Monday.

As per the reports, the driver of the bus carrying a wedding party lost control of the vehicle after its brakes failed while en route to Lahore from Islamabad. 

Rescue officials said that the bus went off track and rammed into three different vehicles moving on the opposite track.

Chakwal Deputy Commissioner Qurat-ul-Ain said that the number of injured passengers was 64, including women and children, who were shifted to a hospital.

This was the second such incident in less than a month.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the authorities concerned to provide the best medical treatment to the injured.

Expressing deep grief over the loss of life, the prime minister prayed for the departed souls to rest in peace and for the early recovery of the injured.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives.

The speaker and deputy speaker instructed the relevant authorities to provide the best treatment for the injured while praying for the departed souls.

41 killed, three injured in Lasbela bus crash

On January 29, at least 41 had been killed when a passenger bus careened into a ravine and caught fire near Chinki stop in the Bela area of the Lasbela district.

The accident had taken place in the wee hours of the day as the bus, en route Karachi from Quetta with at least 44 on board, met the accident.

As per the police, the cause of the accident was speeding as the bus had gone went out of the driver's control.

Mansehra accident

In a similar incident earlier in January, a five-month-old child was killed while 16 other passengers sustained injuries when a Muzaffarabad-bound bus plunged into a ravine in the Batrasi area in Mansehra.

SHO Garhi Habibullah had said the police, with the help of Rescue 1122 personnel, shifted the injured to a nearby hospital where the condition of five was stated to be critical.