At least 22 dead in Kashmir bus crash

At least 22 people were killed on Wednesday when a passenger bus in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir skidded off a mountain road and fell into a deep ravine, police said.

The accident happened in Pulandri, a district in the disputed Himalayan region, senior police official Fayyaz Abbasi said. He added that several passengers were also injured in the crash and were being treated in a nearby hospital.

Meanwhile, police officer Rashid Naeem Khan said the bus had been heading for the garrison city of Rawalpindi when the driver lost control on a road carved out of the mountainside above the river Neelum.

"The bus apparently developed some technical fault," he said.

Cause of the accident still unclear

It was not clear what caused the accident. Police also said that the death toll could rise, with some eight people listed as being in critical condition.

Road accidents are common in mountainous Kashmir and elsewhere in Pakistan. Accidents are often blamed on poorly maintained vehicles and highways, and widespread disregard of traffic rules.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, about 9,000 road accidents are reported every year, killing around 4,000 people.

Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and neighboring India since their independence from British rule in 1947. The two countries each claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought three wars over it.

lc/nm (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)