Road accidents: Four killed, dozens injured in separate mishaps

Three of a family die as van falls into ravine in Kalam

KARAK/ PESHAWAR/ KALAM:

At least four people including a minor were killed in three separate road accidents in the province on Saturday while dozens others people sustained injuries.

Three people of the same family were killed and four others were injured when a passenger van plunged into a ravine in Kalam. According to the police, the driver of the vehicle lost control near Karando area, resulting in the mishap. The deceased, including a woman, were identified as Taj Meena, 30, Khan Saeed, 30, and driver Taj Muhammad.

The injured, Babo Jana, 50, Inayatullah Jan, 6, Afsana, 2 and Sherzada, 33, were rushed to hospitals in Kalam and Bahrain. All passengers were from the same family.

Due to its poor condition, accidents occur regularly on Kalam Road.

The road was washed away by the 2010 floods and despite promises by the government to repair it, work is yet to begin. The more than 30,000-strong population of Kalam suffers on a daily basis due to the poor state of the road.

In another accident in Pabbi tehsil of Nowshera district, nine passengers were injured when a passenger van collided with a truck on the Peshawar-Rawalpindi stretch of GT Road early morning.

Shaukat Khan, a Pabbi police official, said the passenger van was en route to Nowshera from Peshawar when the accident occurred. He added the injured were rushed to a nearby private hospital where they were administered first aid.

Meanwhile, a pickup overturned near Mitha Khel, Karak on the Indus Highway, resulting in the death of a minor and injuries to 25 others.

Police official Qismat Khan said the accident took place at around noon when a pickup loaded with a family was headed to Lawaghar from Peshawar Airport. The minor, identified as Mubeen Akhtar died on the spot.

The official added that of the people injured, 16 were in critical condition and taken to Peshawar. He said a case was filed against the injured driver, Akbar Khan, and further investigation is under way.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 19^th, 2014.