A bus carrying passengers from Gilgit to Rawalpindi crashed into a dumper near Havelian on the Hazara Motorway early Friday, leaving eight people dead and 30 injured, rescue officials have confirmed.
Initial reports suggest a tyre of the bus burst that led to the driver losing control of the vehicle.
The injured include five children and six women. All of them were taken to Ayub Medical Complex in Abbottabad, where four are said to be in critical condition.
The passengers who died are reported to be from Gilgit. Four bodies were taken to Ayub Medical Complex, three to DHQ Hospital Abbottabad and one to Type-D Hospital Havelian.
Rescue 1122 Abbottabad sent seven ambulances and a rescue vehicle after the crash was reported. District Emergency Officer Hafeezur Rehman led the operation, while rescuers treated the injured at the site before sending them to hospital.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed deep grief over the accident and directed that the injured be given the best medical care.
The crash comes a day after a bus-truck collision near Pakpattan killed 11 people and injured 33. Last week, five people died and 27 were injured when a bus fell into a drain in Hafizabad.
