School bus ravine accident leaves teacher dead, 20 injured in Islamabad

A school trip turned into a horrific accident when a bus carrying 54 passengers including students, fell into a ditch in Islamabad's Shahdara area, leaving a teacher dead and 20 others wounded on Saturday, Geo News reported.

The police said that a female teacher, identified as 22-year-old Hania died on the spot.

Confirming the number of casualties, the police said that the students from Sheikhupura were out for a picnic in Islamabad when their bus met the accident.

They said that 54, including the school staff and students, were on board the bus the ill-fated bus. Thirteen of the passengers were teachers and other staff, while 22 were school boys and 19 were school girls, they added.

The rescue teams reached the site of the accident and shifted the injured to hospitals, they said.

Thirteen of the students were shifted to Poly Clinic Hospital and eight to the PIMS hospital. Details of the remaining students remained unknown till the filing of this report.

Sharing further details of the incident, the police said that the vehicle’s engine was running while the driver stood outside. At that time, they said, the bus started moving down the hill and eventually landed in the ditch.

However, some of the passengers had got off the bus when it stopped on the spot.

Earlier, the police had said that the bus driver fled the scene right after the accident.

However, the driver was arrested later, an initial report on the incident said.

It further stated that the students and teachers were boarding the bus after the completion of the trip when the bus went down the hill.

Sources linked to the police said that the Islamabad inspector general of police (IGP) has ordered the registration of a case on the incident.

Earlier this month, a woman was killed and eight — including children — were wounded in a road accident on Karachi's Sharea Faisal.

Police said that the accident took place on November 10 near the Colony Gate bus stop, where a speeding bus went out of the control of the driver and hit a family traveling on a motorcycle and other people.

Following the accident, police and rescue teams shifted the casualties to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where the deceased were identified as 30-year-old Masooma, her injured husband, and two children as 35-year-old Athar Abbas, three-year-old Malik Athar, and one-year-old Abbas respectively.