Road rage: Two dead, 22 injured in separate accidents in Chitral

Protest held over failure to prevent drivers from travelling at night

CHITRAL: At least two passengers died while 22 others were injured in separate roads accidents in Chitral on Sunday.

In the first incident, a passenger van plunged into a ravine.

According to the police and eyewitnesses, the vehicle was carrying 14 passengers from Peshawar to Chitral. The driver lost control of the vehicle and it fell into a ravine.

As a result, two people were killed on the spot while 12 others were injured.

A police official told The Express Tribune, the deceased have been identified as Sagheer and Kamran Khan.

“Abdul Majeed, Ahmed Shareef, Abdul Wahab, Amjad Hussain and Qadirul Islam were injured,” he said. “Mori Bala, Aziz Wali, Sirajuddin, Saddam Hussain, Ihsan Ali, Sajjad and Samiullah were also among those who were wounded.”

Soon after the incident, locals arrived on the site and rushed the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital Chitral and Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Chitral.

As per the official, two people are believed to be in critical condition.

Separately, a passenger van plunged into a gorge at Chitral-Dir Road.

A police official told The Express Tribune, 10 passengers were wounded. “They were rushed to the hospital,” he said. “They are being provided treatment and are out of danger.”

Travelling at night

Later, the relatives of those who were injured in the accident took to the streets.



They protested against the district administration and the police over their failure to take measures to prevent such incidents.

Many of them said the relevant authorities had failed to pay attention to drivers who forge their through the mountainous areas of Chitral during the small hours of night.

This has raised a network of concerns as more road accidents have occurred in Chitral.

According to the demonstrators, a mafia has surfaced in Peshawar which has set up ticket booths and permits vehicles carrying a large quantity of material to travel  at night.

“This has increased the risk of accidents in Chitral,” he added.

Protesters urged IGP Nasir Durrani and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak to look into the matter and arrange a day-time travel service from Peshawar to Chitral.

Rewind

The incidence of road accidents remains particularly high in Chitral. On December 9, 2015, two people died and 13 others were injured when a passenger van plunged into a ravine near Mastuj village. The van was on its way to Laspur when the driver lost control of the vehicle. As a result, the van overturned and plunged into a ravine near Pardangol.

In January 2014, at least 11 members of a tribe were killed and four others injured when a van plunged into a ravine in Marwai.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 12^th, 2016.