Road tragedy: Bus crash leaves 20 soldiers, 4 civilians dead in Kohistan

Passenger vehicle plunges into gorge off Karakoram Highway after driver loses control.

KOHISTAN:

At least 24 people, including 20 military personnel, were killed and five others were injured Saturday morning when their bus plunged into a river gorge on the Karakoram Highway near Samar Nala.

The tragedy struck around 80km from Dassu, the district headquarters of Kohistan. Police blamed the driver for the accident who apparently fell asleep at the wheel.

Kohistan police chief Akbar Ali said 25 troops, most of them from the Northern Light Infantry Unit of Pakistan Army, were on their way to Gilgit-Baltistan on an official leave on a passenger bus bearing registration number PWO 737.

There were also four civilians on board, police said, adding that when it reached near Samar Nala some 10km from Shitiyal village on the Karakoram Highway around 6am, the driver lost control of the vehicle.

Police said the driver was fatigued after being stranded for two days on the highway due to a landslide. He then dozed off on the wheel and accidentally pressed on the accelerator further, which resulted in him losing control of the bus. It eventually skidded off the road and plunged into the gorge several hundred feet below while negotiating a blind turn.

As a result, 20 troops and four civilians were killed on the spot. Local people rushed to the scene and launched a swift rescue operation, removing the bodies and the injured from the site two hours after the disaster due to the depth of the ravine. The injured were shifted to the CMH Chilas in critical condition, officials said.

The accident was so severe that the bus was reduced to a mangled heap and rescuers retrieved the victims after cutting open the bus, eyewitness Kajeer Khan said.

The deceased troops were identified as Lieutenant Colonel Ikramul Haq, Naib Subedar Sher Murad, Hawaldar Rauf, Hawaldar Abu Talib, Hawaldar Jameel, Sepoy Wali Shah, Lance Naik Ghulam Rasool, Sepoy Inayat, Sepoy Rahim Shah, Sepoy Ehjaz, Sepoy Sardar Aman Ullah, Sepoy Akhtar, Sepoy Nadar Aman, Sepoy Muhammad Ali, Sepoy Muhammad Khan, Sepoy Rehmat, Sepoy Sabeer, Sepoy Ali Beg, Sepoy Saeed Alam and Sepoy Basharat.

The four civilians killed were identified as driver Muhammad Omar, Muhammad Ali Zari, Noor Nabi and Aman.

The injured were identified as Sepoy Sikandar, Sepoy Shakir, Sepoy Gulbaz, Sepoy Wali and Sepoy Ahmed.

The deceased were airlifted to their native villages in Baseen, Nagar, Gilgit-Baltistan, Ghazar, Skardu, Yasin and Hunza.

Altaf expresses grief

Muttahida Quami Movement chief Altaf Hussain expressed grief and offered condolences to the families of the victims killed in the bus accident.

He termed the deaths of the soldiers a national tragedy.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2013.