At least 40 killed in passenger bus crash in southwest Pakistan 

A bus has plunged from a highway into a ravine in southwestern Pakistan, killing 40 people, officials say.

“A passenger bus travelling from Quetta to Peshawar plunged into a deep ravine in the mountainous Dana Sar area,” Sanaullah Sherani, the head of Zhob district’s emergency centre, told the AFP news agency on Friday.

The bus lost control early on Friday and fell into the rocky ravine in a remote area near the border of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, Shahid Rind, a spokesperson for the Balochistan government, told the Associated Press.

Both officials said 40 people were killed. At least eight others were injured.

The vehicle was overcrowded and speeding, AP reported.

There ⁠were 48 ⁠passengers on board, a rescue agency told Reuters, saying the bus was ⁠headed to the national capital, Islamabad.

This is a breaking story. More to come…