26 killed after bus washed away by flood in Pakistan

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan

At least 26 passengers, most of them children, were killed after a bus carrying wedding guests was washed away by a flash flood in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials said.

The bus was carrying 32 passengers to a wedding celebration when it was hit by the flood and flung into a gorge on the outskirts of the Khyber Agency tribal region, which borders neighboring Afghanistan.

Irshad Mohmind, a local government official told Anadolu Agency the dead included 18 children and six women. Only three survivors had been found and admitted to hospital while others were still missing.

Heavy monsoon rain and flash floods that began earlier this month have caused havoc in parts of northwestern and northeastern Pakistan, killing more than 20 people and leaving large areas submerged.