FM Shahid sends message of condolence to Pakistan following the loss of lives due to a bus crash and a capsizing of a boat
Minister concluded his message by sending assurances of his highest consideration
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid has sent a message of condolence to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari following the loss of lives due to a bus crash and a capsizing of a boat in Pakistan, on Sunday.
In his message, Minister Shahid noted that he was deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic bus crash in Lasbela district of Balochistan, and the capsizing of a boat in the Tanda Dam Lake, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, both of which caused the loss of many lives including several children.
Minister Shahid stated that the Government and the people of Maldives is joining him in extending deepest condolences to the Minister, the Government and the people of Pakistan.
He went on to say that our prayers are with the bereaved families and wished them for the quick and complete recovery of the injured.
The Minister concluded his message by sending assurances of his highest consideration.
41 people were killed after a bus fell into a ravine and caught fire in the southern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Sunday. While forty-one bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, some were burned beyond recognition according to the district police officer Israr Umrani.
Footages of the area at the time of the accident showed dozens of people combing through the wreckage. Ambulance workers were seen carrying a dead body out of the debris to a row of body bags lined up on the bank.
The bus carrying around 48 people crashed on the way from Balochistan's capital of Quetta to the southern city of Karachi. It fell into a ravine and caught fire, officials said.
Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads in many rural areas are in poor condition. At least 22 people were killed in June 2022, including nine members of one family when a passenger van fell into deep ravine in Balochistan.
Furthermore, at least 10 children were killed on Sunday, when a boat carrying religious school students capsized in northwest Pakistan.
Local media showed emergency services conducting search and rescue operations in the water, while onlookers gathered at the lake's shore.
Kohat's district commissioner Mahmood Aslam said around 50 students from a local religious school, had gathered near Tanda lake for a picnic. Twenty-five had ventured out on the water - which was closed by authorities for recreational trips - on a boat that capsized, he said.
The pupils who had died were aged between seven and 12 years old, according to a list shared with Reuters by the commissioner.
