Bridge collapse in Kohistan kills at least 26

Incident occurred as the passenger van traversed a wooden bridge

KOHISTAN: At least 26 people were killed on Saturday when the passenger van they were travelling in plunged into a nullah in the tehsil Kandia area of Kohistan.

District Police Officer (DPO) Kohistan Raja Abdul Saboor said that the bridge collapsed underneath the passenger van as it was made of wood and could not sustain the weight.

“Rescue efforts are facing difficulties as the incident occurred in a far-flung area,” the DPO added.

The incident occurred when the van, carrying 31 passengers, was en route to Kamila from Bari Gogan. According to Express, locals were able to rescue five people whereas eight bodies have been recovered as of yet.

As the search operation to find the remaining bodies continues, local sources said that all the passengers belonged to the same family.



In January, at least eight labourers were killed and several others went missing after a passenger van got buried by a landslide at Karakoram Highway in Kohistan district.

The landslide completely buried the van. Police said that the van was carrying about 12 labourers of Dasu Hydro Power project, who were on their way home from work.

Rescue teams recovered eight bodies after digging through the piles of mud and rock manually, and efforts were underway to rescue the remaining people by removing the debris with heavy machinery summoned at the site by the rescue officials.

Police said that the landslide occurred due to heavy rains and snowfall in the area.