Pakistan: 16 killed after bus carrying wedding guests falls into stream

USPA News - At least sixteen people were killed Friday when a bus carrying wedding guests plunged down a ravine and into a stream in northwestern Pakistan, local police said. More than a dozen people were injured and several others may still be missing.

The accident happened on Friday afternoon when the speeding bus attempted to overtake a vehicle on a road near Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is believed the bus driver then lost control of the vehicle, causing it to plunge down a ravine and into a stream below. The bus was carrying up to 45 people who were returning from a wedding ceremony on the outskirts of Peshawar and were en-route to the nearby town of Charsadda. Rescue workers said sixteen bodies had been recovered by Friday night and fifteen others were taken to Lady Reading Hospital. Among those killed were eight women and four children, a police official in Peshawar said. "There were mostly women and children on this bus and some were swept away by the water in the stream," he said. "We have rescued some of them but several people are still unaccounted-for." Road accidents are common in Pakistan with more than 5,500 fatalities in 2007, making it one of the world`s worst records for road accidents, according to the most recent figures released by national police. Many accidents are the result of poor infrastructure and the disregard of traffic laws.