Bus of Pakistani pilgrims returning from Arbain crash: dozens killed

Three buses of Pakistani Shias returning from the Arbain ceremony in Iraq crashed. At least 38 people were killed and dozens of pilgrims were injured. Pakistanis were also killed while going to the ceremony.

Another bus of Pakistani Shias returning from Arbain commemoration in Iraq crashed in Iran. At least three people died and 48 were injured in the incident. This is the third bus carrying Pakistani Shia pilgrims to have been involved in an accident in a day.

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that "48 people were injured and three were killed" after a bus collided with a truck on the main road between Nayriz in Fars province and Sirjan in Kerman province late Sunday.

It is not clear how many people were on the bus.

Colonel Abdul Hashem Dehghani, an officer of the Persian traffic police, said that the cause of the accident was a "technical failure" of the brakes and the driver's " inability to control the car."

At least 35 people died and dozens were injured in two more bus crashes on Sunday, officials said.

In the first, at least 12 people were killed and 32 injured when a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims returning from Iraq via Iran plunged off a highway in southwestern Pakistan, police and officials said.

Hours later, 23 people were killed when a bus plunged into a ravine in the Kahuta district of eastern Punjab province, police and officials said.

The first incident occurred on the Makran Coastal Highway after the driver lost control of the bus after its brakes failed, local police chief Kazi Sabir said.

Bus accidents are common in Pakistan. Earlier, 28 Pakistani pilgrims died in a bus accident in neighboring Iran on their way to Iraq.

The bodies of the victims were flown home by a Pakistani military plane on Saturday and buried in the southern province of Sindh.

Sabir said that the bus that fell into the ravine on Sunday was going to Punjab province in the east of Pakistan.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep sorrow over the crash in separate statements. They requested the authorities to ensure that the injured pilgrims are provided with the best possible medical care.

Thousands of Shiites travel to the Iraqi city of Karbala to mark the end of 40 days of mourning after the death of Husayn, the beloved grandson of Muhammad .