38 killed in school bus accident in Pakistan
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Xinhua, September 27, 2011
At least 38 people were killed and some 70 others injured when a school bus carrying 105 people overturned due to brake failure in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Monday night, reported local TV channel Express on Tuesday.
Most of the people killed in the accident were students aged between 12 and 13, said local media reports, adding that a principle of the school and some other teachers were also killed in the accident.
Hospital sources said that at least a dozen others injured in the accident were still critical condition and the death toll could further rise.
The accident took place at about 7:50 p.m. local time Monday when a school bus coming from Faisalabad, a city in central Punjab province, overturned on its way back from a study trip on the motorway linking the country's capital Islamabad and Lahore, capital city of Punjab province.
A traffic police spokesman said that the driver lost control over the bus when he was taking a turn on the motorway near Kalar Kahar, a town located some 125 kilometers south of Islamabad.
Initial investigation showed that the accident was caused by the brake failure of the bus, said traffic police. However, overloading is apparently another factor contributing to the catastrophe as the loading capacity of the ill-fated bus only stands at 72 persons, according to traffic police.
Police said they will launch investigations into the school management to find out why they violated the traffic rules to pack the bus with 105 students and teachers.
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