Nine Pakistan Navy Personnel Killed, 29 Others Injured in Bus Accident in Balochistan

Karachi: At least nine security personnel of the Pakistan Navy were killed and 29 others injured on Tuesday when their bus plunged into a ditch in southern Balochistan province, an official said.

The bus was en route to Karachi from Ormara area of Gwadar district. The soldiers were going to their homes for the holidays, Express Tribune newspaper reported.

"When the bus reached Bozi top in Lasbela, it plunged into the ditch," Assistant Commissioner Bela Jamil Baloch was quoted as saying by the paper.

A preliminary investigation showed the accident took place when the brakes of the bus failed.

"Rescue teams of the Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Coastguards and Levies soon reached the accident site and helped in shifting the bodies and injured to Ormara Naval Base's hospital," Bela said.

He said that the bodies and the injured were shifted to PNS Darman Jah hospital in Ormara.

In September, 27 people, including 10 Pakistan Army soldiers, were killed when a speeding bus rammed into a cliff at Gati Das near Babusar Top, bordering Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province with Gilgit-Baltistan.