Peshawar: At least 24 people, including women and children, were drowned when a bridge collapsed and a bus they were travelling in plunged into a ditch in Pakistan's northwest, police said.

The incident occurred on Friday when the bus, carrying 35 passengers, was going to Kandia from Bagru of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

"All 24 people belonging to the same tribe drowned when a bridge collapsed and the bus they were travelling in plunged into a stream," Ahsanul Haq, the chief civil defence warden said.

The incident happened because the bridge, which was in a dilapidated condition, could not bear burden of the heavily loaded bus, Haq said.

District police chief of Upper Kohistan Raja Abdul Saboor said: "The police and rescue teams rushed to the spot to retrieve the bodies." 

"It is a rugged mountainous area with no communication facilities and the people engaged in rescue activities are facing difficulties because of darkness." 

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New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.

The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.

Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.

“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.

Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”

Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.

In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”

"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added. 

According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.

Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.