9 killed, over 40 injured as bus overturns in E. Pakistan

At least nine passengers were killed and over 40 others injured when a passenger bus turned turtle near Pakistan's eastern city of Muridke on Friday, local media reported. In the report, Geo TV said that a passenger bus with over 50 people on board was on its way from Industrial city of Faisalabad to Shakargarh when it met an accident at the main highway near Muridke, a major commercial city in the country's eastern province of Punjab. Police said that the over-speeded bus overturned when the driver attempted to avoid hitting a motorbike rider coming from the opposite direction. Rescue teams have arrived at the accident site and shifted the injured people to the local hospital where several of them are in a critical condition. According to hospital sources, driver and conductor of the ill- fated bus are among the killed people. Pakistan is among the countries that have worst records for fatal traffic accidents, mainly due to poor roads, lack of driving skills, badly maintained vehicles and violation of road safety rules. Traffic police officials say that 90 percent of the accidents in the country take place due to human error.