56 People Killed In Pakistan Bus Collision

Scene of the accident. Photo: AP

At least 57 people were killed and 20 others injured Tuesday when a bus collided with a truck in southeastern Pakistan, authorities said.

According to media reports. the collision ignited a fuel fire, and a rescuer later described how he carried out a survivor, a four-year-old girl, from the burning bus.

The cause of the accident near Khairpur district in Sindh province was most likely heavy fog, said police official Ghulam Jhokhio.

The bus, carrying about 70 people, had left Swat Valley and was en route to the southern port city of Karachi when it collided head-on with the truck, Jhokhio said.  The bus quickly caught fire after its fuel tank exploded, he added.

The fatalities included 14 women and eight children, said local hospital official Jafar Soomro and warned the death toll was likely to rise. Fifteen people were injured and in hospital, several of them in critical condition, he said.