ISLAMABAD: Sohail Afridi, chief minister of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, has announced up to Rs2 million ($7,191) compensation for relatives of those killed and injured in a deadly bus crash in Balochistan, the CM’s office said on Saturday.
At least 40 people were killed and eight others injured on Friday after an overcrowded passenger bus fell into a ravine in a remote district in Balochistan on the border with KP, in one of the deadliest road accidents in recent years.
The fatal accident occurred in Dana Sar, a mountainous area in Balochistan’s Sherani district, when the bus with 48 passengers aboard veered off a narrow road and plunged into a 400-feet deep ravine on its way to Peshawar from Quetta.
In a statement, KP CM’s office said that Chief Minister Afridi announced Rs2 million ($7,191) for families of the deceased persons and Rs1 million ($3,595) for the ones injured in the deadly road crash.
“The provincial government stands with the affected families in this hour of grief and will provide them with all possible assistance,” CM Afridi was quoted as saying by his office.
“No delay will be tolerated in providing financial assistance to the affected families.”
Road accidents in Pakistan often result from poor road conditions, inadequate enforcement of traffic laws and unsafe driving practices, particularly in mountainous areas.
In May, a minibus rammed into a bus parked along a motorway in northwest Pakistan, killing 17 people and injuring five others.
