Six killed, 11 injured in road accident
Police blames the accident on a combination of reckless driving and a mechanical fault in the vehicle.
BISHAM:
At least six people were killed and 11 including two women were injured when a Toyota van plunged into the Indus River some 22 km from Bisham on Friday evening.
Police sources blamed the accident on a combination of reckless driving and a mechanical fault in the vehicle.
According to the Bisham police, a Toyota Hiace (Peshawar-1774), left Thakot for Bisham in the evening with 17 passengers on board. When it was near Mera Sarakra village, the vehicle developed a mechanical fault and the driver lost control of while negotiating a blind turn, with the vehicle plunging into a deep gorge, killing five passengers including an infant on the spot while eleven others were injured, eight of them seriously.
Local volunteers rushed to the scene and started a rescue operation which lasted for over three hours, as the setting sun hampered their work.
The dead and injured were shifted to Battagram District Headquarter Hospital, from where eight of the seriously injured passengers were taken to Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad, where their status is listed as critical.
One of them, according to hospital sources, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. Those still under treatment at Ayub Medical Complex include Rifat Bibi, Abdullah, Omar Raheem, Qasim Jan, Said Ahmed Shah, Muneer Shah, Abudul Haq and Samiullah. The dead were identified as Fiaz, Samiullah, Omar Nawaz, Ali Roohan, 7-month-old Abu Zar and the driver, Shah Faisal.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2011.
At least six people were killed and 11 including two women were injured when a Toyota van plunged into the Indus River some 22 km from Bisham on Friday evening.
Police sources blamed the accident on a combination of reckless driving and a mechanical fault in the vehicle.
According to the Bisham police, a Toyota Hiace (Peshawar-1774), left Thakot for Bisham in the evening with 17 passengers on board. When it was near Mera Sarakra village, the vehicle developed a mechanical fault and the driver lost control of while negotiating a blind turn, with the vehicle plunging into a deep gorge, killing five passengers including an infant on the spot while eleven others were injured, eight of them seriously.
Local volunteers rushed to the scene and started a rescue operation which lasted for over three hours, as the setting sun hampered their work.
The dead and injured were shifted to Battagram District Headquarter Hospital, from where eight of the seriously injured passengers were taken to Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad, where their status is listed as critical.
One of them, according to hospital sources, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. Those still under treatment at Ayub Medical Complex include Rifat Bibi, Abdullah, Omar Raheem, Qasim Jan, Said Ahmed Shah, Muneer Shah, Abudul Haq and Samiullah. The dead were identified as Fiaz, Samiullah, Omar Nawaz, Ali Roohan, 7-month-old Abu Zar and the driver, Shah Faisal.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 27th, 2011.