Chakwal: At least 37 people have been killed as a jam packed bus of a private school plunged into a ravine near Kallar Kahar area of Pakistan.
The incident took place about 25 kilometers from Kallar Kahar near Salt Range area when the bus of Millat Garammer School Faisalabad plunged into a ravine due to failure of brakes.
Motorway police sources said that the bus carried out over 107 students was returning after attending picnic from Islamabad, The News Tribe correspondent reported.
Local police SHO Malik Ahsan confirmed the death of 28 people including students and staff of the school. He said the injured were rushed to separate Kallar Kahar and Chakwal hospitals.
Rescue 1122 official Kamran Rasheed said that the rescue operation was in progress. He said majority of the victims were students. He said the incident took place due to over loading.
He said there were space of some 56 students in the bus but over hundred people were travelling in the ill-fated bus. He said rescues workers were facing difficulties in the relief operation owing to darkness. He said over 75 people injured in the incident.
The vice principal of the school was also among the dead.
He said rescues teams have started evacuating the remaining pupils and staff of the school after cutting the body of the bus.
The injured were shifted to District Headquarter and Fauji Foundation hospitals Cahkwal where some 12 students were said to be in critical condition. The death toll may rise as several students were in critical condition. More than 50 students were also injured in the incidents.
Parents of the dead and injured students gathered outside the Millat School and hurled stones at the school building. They also chanted slogans against school administration and demanded strict action against the administration.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif condoled over the loss of lives and expressed his sympathies with the affected familites.
A inquiry team has also been formed to probe the incident.
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