Pakistan's leaders have expressed regret over road accidents, which occur frequently in the country largely due to poor infrastructure.
At least 34 people have been killed in two separate bus accidents in northeastern and southwestern Pakistan, local authorities say.
Twelve people were killed on the Makran coastal highway in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday, while a rescue official said 22 people died when a bus plunged into a deep ravine near Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
The first accident occurred overnight when a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims returning from Iran for a religious commemoration veered off the road.
Thirteen people were also injured and are reported to be in critical condition, the provincial government said.
Four people were trapped inside the bus and a crane was ordered to be used to evacuate them, local police authorities said, according to Pakistani news outlet Dawn.
The second accident took place in Kahuta district in Punjab province in eastern Pakistan.
Rawalpindi rescue coordinator Muhammad Usman told Reuters news agency that 25 passengers, including six women and a child, were on board the bus. Among them, 22 had died and one was seriously injured.
All the bodies from the accident have been recovered from the ravine, he said.
However, the Interior Ministry said 29 people died in the accident.
“The accident was caused by a failure in the coaster's brakes,” rescue officer Usman Gujjar told Dawn.
Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed his “deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of those killed in both accidents.”
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also issued separate statements expressing their grief.
Thousands of people die every year
Earlier this week, a bus carrying Pakistani pilgrims overturned in central Iran, killing 28 passengers and injuring 23 others.
The passengers were Pakistani pilgrims heading to Iraq for the Arbaeen celebrations, one of the biggest events of the year for Shiite Muslims worldwide.
Thousands of Shiite Muslims travel to Iraq's holy city of Karbala to mark the occasion, which marks the end of the annual 40-day mourning period following the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein, a central figure in the sect of Islam.
The overturned bus caught fire outside a checkpoint in Yazd province on Tuesday evening, Iranian state television reported.
The bodies of those victims were brought home by a Pakistani military aircraft on Saturday and buried in the southern province of Sindh.
Road accidents occur frequently in Pakistan due to inadequate infrastructure, poorly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
An average of 9,000 incidents are reported each year, resulting in more than 5,000 deaths.
