At least nine people were killed and 12 others were injured on Sunday when a passenger bus fell into a nullah in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Arja area.

Rescue officials, after being informed, rushed to the scene and retrieved the bodies and the injured from the nullah and shifted them to the hospital.

Police said that the passenger bus fell into the nullah while taking a sharp turn in Arja area of AJK. Four of the 12 injured are reportedly in critical condition in the hospital, said the rescue officials. 

Earlier on December 30, a bus full of passengers had met with an unfortunate accident on Monday while traveling from Gujrat to Sialkot, the crash site had been determined to be near the area of Wazirabad.  The passenger bus had fallen into an open waterway near the Yamuna bridge resulting in casualties and loss of life.

According to preliminary reports, nine people had thus far been recovered from the debris while four passengers had reportedly succumbed to their wounds. A search operation was underway to recover more passengers.