One killed as van falls into ravine

ISLAMABAD: One passenger was killed and 17 were injured when a tourist van fell into a deep ravine at Company Bagh near Murree, on Wednesday. A group of 22 youngsters were on their way back from Murree to Islamabad in van bearing number ADB-2478, when the driver lost control of the van at a high speed and it fell into a ravine.

Ilyas Rasheed, a Rescue 1122 worker said that the youngsters had gone to Murree to celebrate Eid. Saif, who was 22-years-old, lost his life as a result of the accident.

Rescue workers had to cut through the vehicle to recover the injured passengers and this took at least half an hour.

Rasheed added that three injured people were shifted to Combined Military Hospital Murree, while Dr Waseem Khwaja, a senior physician confirmed the rest were brought to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

Long queues of vehicles were formed soon after the accident as traffic came to a stand still on the highway which connects Murree to Islamabad. It was hours before the traffic jam was diffused.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2010.