21 killed as bus plunges into ravine

ABBOTABAD—Twenty one people were killed and several injured when a passenger bus traveling from Rawalpindi to Dayamir plunged into a ravine near Keru. Four of the injured are said to be critical.
Rescuers have recovered eight bodies of the victims. According to police sources, the accident occurred at 2: 30 am local time on Friday in Keru area of district Kohistan when a bus plunged into deep gorge near Indus River when the driver lost control. The impact of the accident was so severe that body parts of the deceased spread far. Local residents and police started rescue operations at the accident scene. However due to the depth of the gorge the rescue workers are facing severe difficulty in extracting the deceased and the injured. For this purpose helicopters are being used to aid the rescue operation. Official sources have confirmed taking 9 dead bodies out but it is feared that due the death toll is likely to rise. Some of the deceased have been identified as Driver Aqil Hussain, Aflatoon, Ashraf Kahn, Muhammad Musa, Shakoor Din, Muhammad Sharif, Irfan.—Agencies