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School Bus Fire Kills 15 Children In Pakistan

A relative of one of the children who died after a fire on a school bus, cries over the coffin, on the outskirts of Gujrat.
Mohsin Raza
/
Reuters /Landov
A relative of one of the children who died after a fire on a school bus, cries over the coffin, on the outskirts of Gujrat.

A fire onboard a school bus left at least 15 children dead in Pakistan Saturday morning.

the private school bus caught fire near the town of Gujrat, when the driver tried to switch from using gasoline to natural gas.

"Because of high petrol prices, most public transport vehicles in Pakistan have been fitted with compressed natural gas kits, which, although cheaper, often pose a safety threat," the Times reports. "There are an estimated on compressed natural gas, or C.N.G., in Pakistan."

Unfortunately, all the children who died burned to death.

The AP quotes police officer Mohammed Rasheed as saying 17 children had died.

Asif Bilal Lodhi, a civilian official, tells the Times that police are now looking for the driver, who Lodhi said fled without helping the children.

Gujrat, by the way, is about 120 miles southeast of Islamabad.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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