At least 17 people were killed while over 40 sustained injuries after a truck carrying pilgrims plunged into a ravine in Balochistan&s Hub district on Wednesday, officials said.Hub Assistant Superintendent of Police Ahmed Talha Wali confirmed the death toll and injuries.
He said the truck, carrying 50 people, was en route to the Shah Noorani shrine in Khuzdar from Thatta, Dawn reported.He said the incident took place at 10pm last night, and that critically injured people had been taken to Jam Ghulam Qadir Hospital in Hub and Civil Hospital&s Trauma Centre in Karachi. Earlier, Manan Baloch, the Edhi Foundation&s Hub in-charge, said that the rescue operation to retrieve the bodies and injured concluded Thursday morning.Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Munir Ahmed told AFP that the truck was speeding and that the driver lost control while negotiating a turn.In a statement issued earlier Thursday, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti expressed sorrow over the loss of lives, according to state-run Radio Pakistan.Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah visited the Civil Hospital&s Trauma Centre and met with the injured persons.Speaking to the media outside the facility, he said 40 people had been discharged so far while five were in critical condition.& Road accidents with high fatalities are common in the country due to lax safety measures, poor driver training and decrepit transport infrastructure.Passenger buses and trucks are frequently crammed to capacity and seatbelts are not commonly worn, meaning high death tolls from single-vehicle accidents are common.According to the World Health Organisation estimates, more than 27,000 people were killed on Pakistan&s roads in 2018.In January last year, 41 people were killed when their passenger bus, which was also loaded with containers of flammable oil, plunged into a ravine in Balochistan province and burst into flames.The post 17 killed as truck carrying pilgrims plunges into ravine in Balochistan&s Hub first appeared on Ariana News.