CHILAS , Sept 22 (INP): At least 26 people died and 13 more were injured in a passenger bus accident on Shahrah-e-Kaghan near Chilas on Sunday morning. The bus was heading to Rawalpindi from Skardu and with around 40 passengers, including 16 Pakistan Army personnel. Officials said the bus – which was operated by a private transport company – crashed into a mountainside on Shahrah-e-Kaghan at a location between Geeti-Das and Babusar Top while making a sharp turn. Rasheed Arshad, a spokesman for the Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister, confirmed that 26 bodies, among them women and children, have been retrieved from the wreckage. He said 13 passengers were admitted to the DHQ Hospital, Chilas, and some of them were in critical condition. The government official confirmed there were 16 Pakistan Army personnel on the bus and said most passengers were from Skardu or other parts of Gilgit-Baltistan. He said an emergency response helpline (05815920200) has been activated to assist the affected families. Shahrah-e-Kaghan up to Babusar Top was reopened for traffic in mid-June after eight months. It had been closed for traffic after heavy winter snowfall. The route presents the quickest road means to travel to Gilgit-Baltistan from Islamabad. He added that the process of identifying the deceased was underway. According to Diamer police spokesperson Mohammad Wakeel, the passenger bus, belonging to a private company, had departed from Skardu yesterday night for Rawalpindi. He said that early Sunday morning, the driver lost control of the bus and it collided against a mountain. It is not clear yet how the driver lost control of the vehicle. An official in the DC office of Diamer, Raja Ashfaq, said that most the of deceased and injured are from Skardu. At least 26 individuals were killed and a dozen others were injured in a passenger bus accident on Babusar Pass in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan early on Sunday, said spokesperson for the GB government Faizullah Firaq. Firaq said that the deceased and injured, which included Pakistan Army troops, have been shifted to the district headquarters hospital in Chilas. An emergency has been declared at the DHQ hospital. Meanwhile, GB government spokespersonFaizullah Faraq said that the injured were being shifted to Gilgit in a helicopter. He expressed his gratitude with the force commander for providing a Pakistan Army helicopter for the mission, adding that an ambulance of the Army was also taking part in the rescue operation. The Babusar Pass road, frequently used by tourists, remains open from the end of June to October every year. It then remains closed following heavy snowfall at Babusar Top. INP/AJ