At least 10 people, including women and children, died and several others were injured when a passenger bus fell into a ditch near the Upper Dir district of Malakand Division on Monday, Radio Pakistan reported.

According to police sources, the bus driver lost control of the vehicle and it fell into the ditch after breaking the safety barrier on side of the road.

The casualties have been shifted to the nearby district headquarters hospital.

In a statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan expressed deep grief over the incident and the loss of precious lives.

He directed the hospital administration to provide the best possible health facilities to the injured.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics traffic accidents data, which is available on its website, showed that as many as 10,429 accidents were reported in 2020-21. Around 4,721 were fatal and 5,708 were non-fatal out of the 9,701 accidents. Moreover, more than 5,000 people have been killed and over 12,000 have been injured in such incidents.