13 killed in road accident in Battagram

Van plunges into deep ravine, killing 4 on the spot, while 9 succumb to injures at hospital.

BATTAGRAM: At least 13 passengers, including a woman and a minor girl, were killed when a van plunged into a roadside gorge some six kilometres in the jurisdiction of the Chanjal police station in Battagram on Tuesday.

Police and eyewitnesses said that a Battagram-bound passenger van when skid off the road when taking a blind turn near Kot Gala village, killing four passengers on the spot as a result. The driver was also seriously injured.

Local volunteers carried out the rescue operation, removing bodies and transferring the injured to the District Headquarter Hospital Battagram, where the nine of them succumbed to their injuries.

"The casualties would have been less [serious] had the injured [been] shifted to the hospital [sooner]", a police officer said, adding that the ravine was so deep that taking the victims up to the road took more time.