CHAKWAL: Five people were killed while 24 others were injured as a passenger bus carrying them fell into a ravine near Talagang, Rescue 1122 said on Wednesday.

According to rescue officials, the incident occurred at around 2:15am early on Wednesday.

Chakwal Rescue 1122 spokesperson Qazi Muhammad Akram said the passenger was on its way from Rawalpindi to Bahawalpur.

As the motorway was closed due to fog, the driver opted for an alternative route and used the Talagang-Fatehjang Road, he said.

When the bus was passing by Dhoke Pathan village located at the bank of Sowaan River, the driver lost control on a winding patch of the road, the Rescue 1122 spokesperson said.

As a result, the bus plunged into a 100-foot-deep ravine, he said. Five passengers, including the bus driver, died at the spot, while 24 others sustained injuries, he said.

He said that Rescue 1122 officials rushed to the scene after the incident was reported. He added that 15 officials and five emergency vehicles took part in the rescue operation which lasted for more than two hours.

Four of the deceased were identified as 56-year-old Abdul Sattar, the driver of the vehicle; 40-year-old Zia Ahmedn from Kotli Sattiyan; 33-year-old Mohammad Ishaq from Lodhran; and 45-year-old Ramzan from Multan. The body of the fifth person has not yet been identified..

?We have taken the dead bodies to the Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Talagang while all the injured were taken to City Hospital Talagang,? District Rescue Officer Dr Mohammad Atique told Dawn.

He added that all the injured passengers were being examined at the hospital.

Meanwhile, Talagang Assistant Commissioner Suleman Mansha and Deputy Superintendent of Police Malik Azi visited the injured at City Hospital.

AC Mansha directed the hospital management to leave no stone unturned in treating the injured.