Two passengers died and another 16, including three foreign citizens, were injured when a passenger bus bound for Rawalpindi deviated from the road to a drain on Tuesday, authorities said.
According to the Serai Saleh station officer (Sho) Raja Mumtaz, the bus deviated from the road and fell to a drainage on the road near the exchange of Shah Maqsood about six kilometers from the headquarters of the district on the Hazara highway in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Sho Mumtaz said that the cause of the accident was to drive recklessly. However, injured passengers said the accident occurred when the driver fell asleep.
The police cited the passengers saying that the bus bound for Rawalpindi left Gilgit in the early hours of Tuesday. When he was close to the exchange of Shah Maqsood on the Hazara highway, the driver lost control and the speed bus deviated to the drain on the road leaving 18 injured passengers.
The locals and rescue workers transferred the injured to the trauma center Haripur, where two of the injured were brought dead.
Five passengers suffered serious injuries and were transferred to the Institute of Medical Sciences of Pakistan Islamabad, according to Dr. Munawar Khan Afridi, the medical superintendent of the Hospital of the Headquarters of the District.
He said that another 11 were slightly injured and were discharged after first aid were administered.
The deceased passengers, according to the records of Dr. Afridi and the Police, were identified as Masroor, 55, resident of Yaseen Gilgit and Zameer Abbas, 42, resident of Astore.
Among the injured were a teenager and three foreigners identified as John, citizen of the Czech Republic and two Chinese citizens, Zu Chongzhi and Lyu Li Dong.
