18 killed as passenger van falls into ravine in Pakistan's Balochistan

At least 18 people were killed on Wednesday as a passenger van they were travelling in fell hundreds of feet into a ravine in Pakistan's mountainous Balochistan province, an official said.

The van, travelling on the Zhob National Highway, plunged into the ravine near Killa Saifullah area, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The vehicle fell from a hilltop near Akhtarzai and all the 18 travellers aboard were reportedly killed in the accident, deputy commissioner Hafiz Muhammad Qasim was quoted as saying.

Akhtarzai is a tribal area located at an elevation of 1,572 metres in Zhob.