A passenger bus has plunged from a highway into a ravine in southwestern Pakistan, killing 40 people, officials said on Friday.

“A passenger bus travelling from Quetta to Peshawar plunged into a deep ravine in the mountainous Dana Sara area,” Sanaullah Sherani, head of Zhob district’s emergency centre, told AFP. He added that the bus fell approximately 70 to 80 feet (21 to 24 metres) into the ravine.

The speeding bus lost control early 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 confirmed 40 people were killed. At least eight others were injured. Rind said the bus was carrying not only its own passengers but also passengers from another bus that had broken down, leaving the vehicle overcrowded. Rescuers are working to identify those killed.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari expressed sorrow over the crash, offered condolences to the families of the victims, and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Source: www.aljazeera.com