Speeding bus plunges off road in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir; 25 dead, 30 injured

Bus plunges off road in Kashmir; 25 dead, 30 hurt

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan — A speeding bus whose driver apparently was eager to break his daylong Ramadan fast spun out of control Thursday and plunged off a mountainous road in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, killing 25 people and injuring 30 others, police said.

The bus was traveling from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, to Daban in the Jehlum valley when it fell 1,000 feet (300 meters) from the Himalayan road, police officer Sardar Ilyas said.

Rescuers recovered 25 bodies and rushed 30 injured people to a hospital, he said. Some were in critical condition, Ilyas said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani expressed “grief and anguish over the loss of precious lives,” a statement from his office said.

The crash occurred half an hour before the breaking of the Ramadan fast. Ilyas said the driver was speeding along the mountainous route, apparently eager to reach the destination to break the fast.

Devout Muslims fast from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan.