CHAKWAL: At least 27 people were killed and as many as 48 others injured when a passenger bus fell off a bridge in Dhok Pathan area of Talagang city on late Wednesday night.

According to rescue sources, the bus was carrying 77 passengers when it fell nearly 150 feet to the ground.

The ill-fated bus was en route to Lahore from Kohat to take part in a religious congregation in Raiwind when it careened off the road and plunged into a ravine, killing 25 people and wounding another 50.

The rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the dead and injured to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Talagang. Later, 16 critical injured were shifted to Rawalpindi.

Two more injured succumbed to their injuries during treatment, raising the overall death toll in the accident to 27. The bus driver and conductor were among the dead.

Following the reports of the accident, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed a deep sense of sorrow and grief over the loss of human lives. He extended heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved families and directed the administration to provide best healthcare facilities to the injured.