At least 18 persons were killed, 37 other injured and 14 in critical condition, when a speeding passenger bus skidded off a bridge and fell into a deep nullah near Poona, some 40-km from here on Monday. According to SP Bhimber Ghulam Akber Chaudhry, he said the death toll rose to 16 by Monday afternoon after some seriously injured persons were expired in Divisional Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Mirpur.
He said an ill-fated Samahni bound passenger bus bearing AJKB-2473 was skidded off Poona Bridge and fell into the seasonal nullah at about 10.30am reportedly due to over speeding. The identified deceased included Muhammad Azeem, Zareena Bibi, Saeed Agha, Amaad, Mahmood while eight others unidentified bodies were taken to DHQ's hospital. The seriously injured ones included driver Rafi Ullah, Zahid Hussain, Mumtaz Ali, Pathani Bibi, Muhammad Shafi and Saiqa Mahmood. Rescue teams led by Bhimbher Deputy Commissioner Sardar Adnan Khursheed and Superintendent (SP) Police Ghulam Akber Chaudhry rushed the incident and shifted the bodies to the hospital.