At least 35 people were killed and 15 others sustained serious injuries after a bus carrying Pakistani pilgrims met with an accident in Yazd, Iran. According to  Maulana Qamar Abbas Naqvi — a member of a peace committee based in Larkana — said at least 30 people died on the spot, while five succumbed to their injuries at the hospital. On the other hand, Iran's Mehr News Agency said that the number of killed people in the accident was 28 with emergency imposed in hospitals across the city to treat the injured. The ill-fated bus, according to Iranian media, overturned and caught fire near Taftan-Dehshir check point. The bus, which had 53 passengers on board, met with the accident last night.

The police and rescue officials rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies and the injured to the hospital. Speaking to a private Tv channel Maulana Shah Murad Sharifi, a Qom seminary student hailing from Larkana, said that the pilgrims' convoy comprised two buses carrying around 52 passengers each. Elaborating on the current situation, he said that apart from five to six people who suffered minor injuries, most of the passengers of the ill-fated bus were in critical condition and were being treated in a local government hospital. When asked about what caused the fatal accident, Sharifi said he had heard people saying that the vehicle's brakes had failed before the accident.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan