25 children die as school van falls into river in NW Pakistan
12:35, 21 September 2010
ISLAMABAD. September 21. KAZINFORM At least 25 children were feared dead as a school bus plunged into the Jhelum river with over 30 kids onboard Tuesday morning in Muzaffarabad area of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, local sources said. Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
So far at least five bodies have been recovered from different places in the river. Eyewitnesses said that parents helplessly watched their children being drowned. The children were from a school operated by a non-governmental organization.
Local television DAWN reported from the accident site Ghari Duppatta near Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir that locals are trying to catch hold of the bus with ropes which has completely been submerged into the river.
In August, at least 52 people were killed and a dozen others injured as a passenger bus fell into a river at Ghari Duppatta, 25 kilometer from Muzaffarabad. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version.