Bus crash kills 26 in Kashmir

Buses are a common mode of transport in the region

The authorities in Pakistan-administered Kashmir say at least 26 people have been killed and dozens injured in a bus crash.

The bus carrying nearly 50 passengers to Mirpur town, plunged into a 400 feet deep ravine.

According to the Deputy Commissioner of Southern Mirpur district, Ehsan Khalid Kiani the bus skidded off the road at Peer Gali, some 250 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

He said 22 people died on the scene and four others died either in a hospital or on their way to hospital.

The bus was travelling from Khuiratta, a town in southern Kotli district in Pakistan-administered Kashmi.

Of the more than two dozen injured, 12 people have been admitted to different hospitals. Three of them are in a serious condition.

The injured include several women and children.

Officials say they had received reports the driver lost control after the tie-rod of the bus broke.

But an official investigation to find out the exact cause of the crash is now underway.