Passenger bus crash kills 16 in Pakistan

Sixteen people died after a passenger bus plunged nearly 200 metres into a ravine in Pakistan's Kashmir region on Monday, officials said.

The accident happened in the area of Puna, 170 kilometres (105 miles) southeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

"A passenger bus was going to Smahni town on the border with India from the eastern district of Mirpur, when it fell into a 200-metre deep ditch, killing 16 passengers and wounding 37 others," senior police official Ghulam Akbar told AFP.

He said the bus was overloaded and speeding. The driver lost control while taking a sharp turn on the narrow and poorly maintained road in the mountainous region.

Pakistan has an appalling record of fatal traffic accidents due to poor roads, badly-maintained vehicles and reckless driving.