(Bela) Pakistan was in mourning on Sunday after two tragedies that occurred a few hours apart in the west of the country: the accident of a bus which killed at least 41 people, then the sinking of a boat which cost the life to at least ten children.
A rescue operation was underway on Tandam Lake in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday after a ship carrying around 30 school children capsized, an official said. the local police, Mir Rauf.
Ten children, aged 7 to 14, were found dead and 17 others were rescued, the officer said. Three pupils were wanted on Sunday afternoon and a rescued teacher was still unconscious.
“The boat flipped over suddenly,” an 11-year-old child who survived the sinking, Muhammad Mustafa, testified from his hospital bed in the nearby town of Kohat. “The water was very cold, my body was going numb, I was about to pass out when a man saved me.”
PHOTO BASIT SHAH, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
A crowd watches Tandam Lake, where a boat carrying 25 to 30 children capsized.
According to another local police official, Abdul Rauf, “the boat was in poor condition and overloaded”.
Earlier, at least 41 people died in the crash of a bus that crashed into a ravine and burst into flames, after falling from a bridge north of the town of Bela in the province of Balochistan.
“The dead bodies are unrecognizable,” said Hamza Anjum, an official from Lasbela district where the tragedy occurred.
One of the three survivors rescued from the wreckage succumbed to his injuries shortly after and the other two are in serious condition, Anjum said.
The bus was carrying 48 passengers and was loaded with oil drums, according to local emergency services official Asghar Ramazan.
“When the bus crashed, it immediately caught fire,” he explained, adding that “the fire was so strong because of the oil that it was difficult to control”.
PHOTO ISMAIL SASOLI, FRANCE PRESS AGENCY
Leaving from the capital of Balochistan, Quetta, the vehicle had driven at night towards the port city of Karachi before hitting a pillar, then going over the railing of the bridge.
In a video broadcast by the provincial authorities, rescuers were seen working around the charred and smoking carcass of the vehicle in the bed of a dry river, to free the remains.
Leaving from the capital of Balochistan, Quetta, the vehicle had driven at night towards the port city of Karachi, located about 700 kilometers to the south. He hit a pillar, before going over the railing of the bridge.
Lax road safety
“We fear that the driver fell asleep,” said Hamza Anjum, adding that the speed could also be the cause of this tragedy.
An investigation must be opened to determine this and DNA tests will be carried out to identify the “severely mutilated” victims, the official said.
Transport safety is often questioned in Pakistan, where mortality is particularly high on the roads, between expressways in poor condition, lax regulations and dangerous driving.
Buses there are often filled to the limit of their capacity and wearing seat belts is not a widespread reflex. Road accidents involving a single vehicle are frequent.
According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 27,000 people died on Pakistan’s roads in 2018.
Deadly shipwrecks are also common in the country, where many boats in poor condition and overloaded sail despite the risks.
Many Pakistanis do not know how to swim, especially women, discouraged by conservative local mores. For them, the integral outfits, which weigh very heavy once wet, are an additional danger.