Death toll from Pakistan bus accident climbs to 26

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - The death toll from a passenger bus accident in northern Pakistan has climbed to 26, a local official said on Wednesday.

"The death toll has increased to 26 while one woman remained unhurt in the accident," Muhammad Zubair, a local police official of the Diamer district in northwestern Gilgit-Baltistan region, told Anadolu over the phone.

Last evening, a bus carrying a wedding party fell into the Indus River in Pakistan's northeastern Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The wedding procession from the Astore district of Gilgit Baltistan was going to Punjab’s Chakwal district.

According to police, overspeeding may have caused the driver to lose control of the bus that plunged into the river with 27 people aboard.