ISLAMABAD - At least 22 people were killed on Sunday after a passenger coach fell into a ravine in Poonch district of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, an official told Xinhua.

Commissioner of Poonch Sardar Waheed Khan said that the passenger coach fell into a deep ravine near Azad Patan Pana pul area of Rawalakot region of the district.

Police, rescue teams and locals rushed to the site and started a rescue operation, said the official.

The commissioner said that 22 bodies, including women and children, had been shifted to a public hospital in Rawalakot, adding that the rescue operation was in progress to ensure that there was no one left inside the crashed coach.

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The official added that the coach was heading toward Rawalakot from Pakistan's eastern garrison city of Rawalpindi when it encountered the accident.