Two Pakistan bus accidents kill at least 34 people

Two bus accidents in northeast and southwest Pakistan have killed as at least 34 people, authorities say.

Twelve pilgrims died on the Makran Coastal Highway in the southwest, the interior ministry said, while a rescue official said 22 had died when their passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in Pakistan-ruled Kashmir.

Rescue co-ordinator Rawalpindi Muhammad Usman said the second bus crash had 25 passengers, including six women and a child, of whom 22 had died and one was critically injured. All the bodies have been recovered from the ravine, he said.

The first accident happened on the Makran coastal highway after the driver lost control of the bus when its brakes failed while passing through Lasbela district in Baluchistan province, local police chief Qazi Sabir said.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in separate statements expressed their deep sorrow over the accident.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in a statement expressed "heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the families of the deceased in both accidents."

On Wednesday, a bus carrying Pakistani pilgrims overturned in central Iran, killing 28 passengers and injuring another 23 people.

The bodies of those victims were taken home on a Pakistani military plane on Saturday and buried in southern Sindh province.

Bus accidents are common in Pakistan, mostly because of the negligence of the drivers who often violate traffic rules.