Quake road bus plunge 'kills 24'

The road at Chinari is treacherous

Police say at least 24 people have died after a bus skidded off a road in quake-hit Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

Another 25 were injured in the incident near Chinari, about 50km (30 miles) south-east of Muzaffarabad.

Police said the bus fell about 80m (250 feet) down a hill into the river Jhelum. Some passengers are badly hurt.

Several of the injured have been taken to field hospitals set up to treat survivors of the 8 October earthquake, in which about 75,000 people died.

We fear at least three to four people also drowned Deputy police chief Tahir Qureshi

The Jhelum valley road was badly damaged in the earthquake, with parts swept away by landslides.

Many sections are still dangerous, even though the army has cut new stretches out of the cliffs to allow relief and rescue teams access.

Bodies

The bus was travelling from Kathai, a small town in the Jhelum valley, to Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Police say the vehicle skidded off the road as it was going round a corner not far from the town of Chinari.

Muzaffarabad deputy police chief Tahir Qureshi told Reuters news agency earlier in the day that 20 bodies had been recovered.

"We fear at least three to four people also drowned," he said.

The injured include three women and a 10-year-old girl. Some of those hurt are in a critical condition and the number of dead may rise, say police.

There have been several other road accidents in the area since the quake, leaving about 50 people dead and dozens injured.

Officials say it will take years to repair roads damaged in the earthquake.