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Rescue workers collect remains from the burnt wreckage of a bus accident in Bela, an area of Lasbela district of Balochistan province, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. AP/PA Images

At least 51 killed in Pakistan transport tragedies, as boat full of children capsizes

The latest transport tragedy in the country has left ten students confirmed dead, while up to nine are still missing in the waters.

LAST UPDATE | 29 Jan 2023

AT LEAST 51 people have been killed in two separate transport accidents in western Pakistan today, when a bus plunged off a bridge and a boat carrying a class of children capsized.

Forty-one are so far confirmed dead after their bus crashed into a ravine in southwestern Balochistan province, while at least 10 students died in the boating accident in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.

Up to nine are still missing in the waters, local police said, with a rescue operation underway.

At the remote site of the bus crash, north of the city of Bela in Lasbela district, senior administration official Hamza Anjum said “the dead bodies…are beyond recognition”.

Anjum said 40 corpses were retrieved from the wreck alongside three injured, one of which died shortly after. The remaining two survivors were in “serious” condition.

The bus was reportedly carrying a total of 48 passengers when it hit a pillar on the bridge and careened off course earlier today.

It had been travelling overnight between Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta and the southern port city of Karachi.

“It is feared that the driver may have fallen asleep,” Anjum said, also mentioning the possibility he had been speeding during the long-distance trip.

“We will investigate the causes of the accident,” he said, adding that DNA tests would be used to determine the identity of the remains which had been “badly mutilated”.

‘Rescue underway’ 

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, local police official Mir Rauf told AFP all of the dead so far recovered from the lake were between the ages of seven and 14.

He said 11 more children had been rescued, with six in critical condition. However, up to nine more remain missing from the madrassa class which was day tripping at the scenic location.

“A rescue operation is underway,” Rauf told AFP.

Ramshackle highways, lax safety measures and reckless driving contribute to Pakistan’s dire road safety record.

“Everything was normal until suddenly the boat overturned,” said 11-year-old survivor Muhammad Mustafa from his hospital bed in the nearby city of Kohat.

“I got stuck under the boat,” he told AFP. “My shawl and sweater weighed me down, so I took them off.”

“The water was extremely cold and my body went numb. I thought I was going to pass out when a man on an inflatable tube saved me.”

One of the rescued was a teacher, who remained unconscious as the rescue operation continued for up to three pupils still missing.

Passenger buses are frequently crammed to capacity and seatbelts are not commonly worn, meaning high death tolls from single vehicle accidents are common.

In November, 20 people, including 11 children, were killed when a minibus crashed into a deep and water-logged ditch in southern Pakistan.

According to World Health Organisation estimates, more than 27,000 people were killed on Pakistan’s roads in 2018.

Mass drownings are also common in Pakistan, when aged and overloaded vessels lose their stability and pitch passengers into the water.

© Agence France-Presse

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    Mute Jay Kay
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    Oct 26th 2023, 9:24 PM

    Free Palestine:)

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    Oct 26th 2023, 10:16 PM

    Zionist s€um

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    Mute Alan Kennedy
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    Oct 26th 2023, 11:33 PM

    @Jay Kay: Meerkats will rise up and free Palestine from the imperialist illegal us plantations!

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    Oct 27th 2023, 7:55 AM

    @Jay Kay: Wow, look at all the nuts, lol. I just commented to see if comments would be shut down like all the other stories. Meerkats? There are some nut jobs here

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    Mute moss cotter
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    Oct 26th 2023, 9:40 PM

    The EU has been exposed to be nothing more than a spineless, willing tonto for the US/NATO war machine. All the guff down through the years about peace, democracy, the rule of law etc nothing but empty rhetoric.
    The sole purpose of the EU commission was to override democratic governance and to stuff the commission with hand picked weak messenger boys and girls that are nothing but tools for US/NATO, completely under the influence of think tanks like the Atlantic council and God knows what others.
    The EU was a beautiful child but it’s become a damned ugly adult devoid of true democratic governance and also devoid of any morality and dignity, the shocking disregard for the lives of Arabic peoples belies an inherent racism very much alive in Europe today as it was in the empire building days.

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    Oct 27th 2023, 12:04 AM

    @moss cotter: Arabs are the most racist and misogynistic people in the world.

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    Mute Sean
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    Oct 27th 2023, 1:09 AM

    @moss cotter: Very well said. Time to re-evaluate our relationship with the EU. Maybe opt out of military spend among other things

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    Oct 27th 2023, 7:20 AM

    @: So. It is still not ok to murder anyone.

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    Mute Daniel Gilroy
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    Oct 26th 2023, 9:49 PM

    Irish Government bowing to our EU and American masters once again. Leaky all mouth and no trousers. FFG OUT!!! FREE

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    Mute Sean
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    Oct 27th 2023, 1:18 AM

    @Daniel Gilroy: Leo is lovin life over in Brussels. Tailored suit, Opulent gatherings, best of everything. Give the guy a break. He had to go along with them if he wants to get ahead in those circles. Importantly, he looked great! I thought he really pulled off the PM look. It’s just war crimes. No need to go over the top and ask for a cessation. Big picture baby!

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Oct 26th 2023, 11:58 PM

    What a fascinating and rather impressive selection of considered comments of great intellectual depth we have on display here! Now I know why they’re closed on most stories…

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    Mute Sean
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    Oct 27th 2023, 1:29 AM

    @William Tallon: By pointing out that people are not staying on topic, you yourself stray from the topic of the article. At least it’s something worthwhile that they’re commenting on. Thousands of children blown up in two weeks. Dead

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    Mute William Tallon
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    Oct 27th 2023, 2:02 AM

    @Sean: Somewhat convoluted yet flawed reasoning on your part. Worthwhile subjects are worthy of worthwhile comments. Maybe you should read the content of some of those posts again? I’d hardly consider them worthy of the subject matter…

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    Oct 27th 2023, 3:19 AM

    @William Tallon: Settle down with all this “convoluted yet flawed” business unless you can point to the flaws. Maybe you’re right. I don’t know. I don’t know what ones you find not “worthy”, that’s subjective. I just heard you complain because you don’t agree with something someone says while you were excusing censorship. If they said something incorrectly then argue that. We should confront inaccuracies and disprove them, not censor them. Group think can be deadly so shutting out ideas is never a good idea. There’s a reason freedom of expression is enshrined in our Constitution. Some of the stuff on here is terrible. I agree with you completely there. But let’s discourage censorship please. Have a good night/morning!

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    Oct 27th 2023, 6:48 AM

    Tell the Israeli spokespersons that they are censored for spreading misinformation

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    Mute Daniel Gilroy
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    Oct 26th 2023, 9:51 PM

    Journal editing comments now too. Absolutely disgraceful!!!

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    Mute Mike smith
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    Oct 27th 2023, 7:22 AM

    It is disappointing to see Biden parroting Israeli propaganda. Questioning the death toll in Gaza, pathetic.

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    Oct 27th 2023, 7:46 AM

    @Mike smith: Biden is right to ask questions. After all, Hamas claimed Israel blew up a hospital killing over 500 people, when in fact it was a Hamas rocket which landed in the car park of the hospital.

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    Oct 27th 2023, 8:39 AM

    @: Why did the Israeli propaganda bloke claim it was a great Israeli success in a tweet? Was his account hacked? Plenty of evidence that it was Israel, specifically the warning attack and message to hospital management a few days before. Don’t believe anything the Israeli lying machine says.

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    Oct 27th 2023, 8:48 AM

    @Mike smith: Agreed: it was disgusting. Doubters should see the Guardian article ‘How does Gaza’s health ministry calculate casualty figures?’.

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    Oct 27th 2023, 10:22 AM

    @Mike smith: We can’t say for sure what happened in the hospital car park, but we can say for sure that the Israelis are lying about it. Check out the Channel 4 analysis on YouTube. It made three points. First, Doppler analysis shows that the missile approached from the East, not south west. Second, the recording of Hamas guys presented by Israelis was clearly doctored. Third, analysis of the impact crater again shows it came in opposite direction that Israelis claim. There are still unanswered questions but check out that video and see if you still believe Israelis claims.

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    Oct 27th 2023, 1:07 AM

    The weakness and spineless hypocrisy of the EU is on full display today. It’s not the Russians or others these pathetic politicians need to worry about but the populations of EU countries. If you are bewildered about the rise of far right, left, nationilist or whatever BS term you are using this week for those that don’t agree with your crap. Just look to todays pathetic display of hot air and you will see the root cause.

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    Oct 27th 2023, 1:25 AM

    I agree. Well said. You cannot be the same person who wrote the sh,te I read earlier. If there’s more than one of you on here without a profile then one of you is going to have to fix that s.,t. Get an avatar or something

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    Oct 27th 2023, 7:27 AM

    @Sean: suk my dik

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    Oct 27th 2023, 9:33 AM

    @Sean: No different person. I rarely comment and that was my first in days. The app accepts a name but doesn’t tag my comments with it.

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