50 Afghans suffocate in container

Islamabad: Nearly 50 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan died of suffocation in a container in which they were being transported to Iran via Pakistani territory on Saturday, domestic private television channels reported.

The video footage showed bodies and many unconscious people being removed from the container on the outskirts of Quetta, capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan.

The reports said more than a hundred Afghans were recovered from the container unconscious and were rushed to hospitals in Quetta.

A senior police official told the media in the provincial capital the death toll could rise.

The driver of the container vehicle fled.