Flash floods: 18 feared dead as bus swept away in AJK

Nine bodies recovered; nine survivors rescued.

MIRPUR/ AJK:

At least 18 people, including eight women, are feared dead, while nine others were injured, after a passenger bus was swept away in a flash flood in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Tuesday.

“Nine bodies have so far been recovered, while nine people have been rescued, from the sharp currents of Nullah Sair in the mountainous Sudhanoti district of AJK”, said the district police chief Sajaad Hussain.

“The bus, with at least 27 passengers on board, was on its way from Palandri town to Anjaal Kot town when it was swept away in the seasonal nullah which had overflowed its banks,” said Shoukat Tabassam, a local resident and an eyewitness.

Flash floods have become more frequent following a spell of heavy late monsoon rains in the northern areas.

“Nine people, including three women and a child, were rescued and rushed to district hospital Palandri,” Tabassam said, adding their condition is stated to be out of danger.

The deceased, whose bodies have been recovered, are all residents of Anjaal Kot town.

Search for the remaining passengers continued till the filing of this report. The wreckage of the private passenger bus could not be recovered from the nullah till late Tuesday night.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29^th, 2012.