17 killed, 41 injured in Pakistan truck crash

At least 17 pilgrims have been killed and 41 injured after their vehicle crashed while traveling to a shrine in southwestern Pakistan, officials said, Report informs, citing Al Jazeera.

The accident took place in the Hub district of Balochistan province, police said on Thursday.

“The truck was overspeeding and it went out of the driver’s control while negotiating a turn” and fell into a ravine in a mountainous town as they approached the shrine, district deputy commissioner Munir Ahmed told the AFP news agency.

They were on their way to the Shah Noorani Sufi shrine in the city of Khuzdar, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported when the accident happened during Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The driver jumped out of the vehicle to safety, according to Ahmed.

Shaukat Jalbani, the deputy medical superintendent of Hub’s main hospital, confirmed the 17 deaths and said most of the injured had been sent to Karachi for treatment.