A party bus carrying more than two dozen guests, including the bride and groom, plunged into a river near Pakistan’s Punjab province Chakwal over the weekend.
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A total of 18 people, including the newlyweds, were killed in the accident.
According to Newsweek, the party bus accident occurred as wedding guests were being driven through the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan region, which is known for its “rugged terrain and challenging road conditions.”
The bus had been traveling alongside the Thalichi Bridge when it fell into the Indus River. At least nine wedding guests are still reportedly missing.
Pakistan’s government spokesperson Faizullah Farqan stated only one survivor – a female wedding guest – has been discovered so far amid the party bus wreckage. The search for bodies is ongoing.
Law enforcement revealed that the cause of the party bus crash remains unknown, as investigators have yet to speak to the sole survivor of the accident.
Sher Khan, the senior superintendent of police in Diamer, confirmed 16 bodies had been recovered from the crash site.
Rescue 1122 spokesperson Shaukat Riaz further shared that the party bus was part of a wedding procession. “Nineteen of them belonged to Astore, while four were from the Chakwal district of Punjab,” Riaz said about the guests.
The Secretariat of the Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party released a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
“The President’s expression of deep grief over the loss of precious lives in the accident,” the Secretariat of Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party wrote. “The President’s emphasis on the need to speed up the relief operations. The President expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased. In this hour of sorrow, my sympathies are with the heirs of the deceased.”
Three Dozen Were Killed in Two Different Bus Crashes Over the Summer
The Associated Press previously reported that 36 individuals were killed in two different bus crashes In August.
The first crash happened in southwest Pakistan when a bus traveling from Iraq through Iran crashed into a ditch. At least a dozen people were killed while dozens of others were injured.
Hours after the first crash, 24 people were killed in a second accident occurred. A bus crashed into a ravine located in the Kahuta district of Pakistan. Omar Farooq, a senior government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, stated there were no survivors of the crash.
Sardar Waheed, a senior government official, also revealed the bus had been heading to the Pakistan-administrated disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. It fell from the Panna Bridge in the Kahuta district.