Islamabad, Oct 29 (IANS) At least five people were killed and 27 others injured after a passenger bus veered into a drain in Hafizabad district of Pakistan's Punjab province on Thursday, local media reported, citing Rescue 1122.

Rescue services said that the accident took place in the Fatehke area of Pindi Bhattian tehsil in Hafizabad. Rescue officials said that overspeeding resulted in the driver losing control of the vehicle.

Following the accident, teams from Rescue 1122 reached the spot and began rescue operations, Pakistan-based daily Dawn reported.

Rescue 1122 said that injured people were provided first aid at the site of the incident while 20 others were taken to the hospital. Rescue teams continued to carry out search operations amid fears that more passengers might be trapped under the bus and the debris.

On October 21, as many as 10 people were killed and 44 others injured as a bus overturned after colliding with a road divider on the Indus Highway in Rojhan tehsil of Rajanpur district in Pakistan's Punjab province, local media reported, citing rescue authorities.

The accident took place in the Bangla Hidayat area when the bus was reportedly speeding when it hit a road divider and toppled over. Rescue 1122 said that the deceased included seven men, two women and a girl, Dawn reported.

Over 38 injured people were taken to the Rajanpur District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, while four critically injured people were referred to Dera Ghazi Khan and two seriously injured to Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Rahim Yar Khan.

In August, two people were killed and 42 others injured after a bus carrying a wedding party overturned on the Kohlu-Dera Ghazi Khan highway in Pakistan's Balochistan province, Dawn reported.

According to police, the bus carrying a wedding party was heading from Rakhni to Kohlu when the accident occurred. A police official said that more than 40 people were injured after a bus overturned due to overloading.

--IANS

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