Misfortune: Five die as jeep plummets into ravine

Same number injured; locals furious at response time of hospital staff

BATTAGRAM/ ABBOTTABAD:

At least five passengers were killed and five others were injured when a jeep plunged into a roadside ravine in Allai on Thursday.

An Allai police officer said a jeep carrying ten passengers, more than its capacity, was en route to Gangwal village from Karag Wednesday evening. The driver lost control of the vehicle, which then took a nosedive into the deep ravine, killing two people instantly and leaving eight others critically injured.

Rescue workers arrived on the scene, and shifted the dead and injured to District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Battagram. Three more passengers succumbed to their injuries at the DHQ.

The deceased were identified as Faizuddin, Gulab Khan, Matiullah, Sanaullah and Dosham Khan.

Locals who accompanied the bodies and injured thrashed medical officer Dr Sarbuland Khan for not arriving at the hospital on time. They also chanted slogans against the DHQ medical superintendent and the PTI government for poor facilities in the area. On the complaint of Dr Sarbuland Khan, Allai police registered an FIR against eight people.

DSP killed in road accident

A DSP was killed in a road accident near Hajia Gali, some 22 kilometres from Havelian city in Abbottabad district on Wednesday.

Havelian police said Sardar Safdar Khan, posted in Dasu, Kohistan as DSP headquarter, was on his way home in Hali Khaiter village after attending a court hearing in Haripur. He was driving his personal car.

When he reached Kiyala, a hilly area, the vehicle slid back at an uncontrollable speed. The vehicle then plunged into a several-hundred-feet-deep roadside gorge. Locals rushed to the scene to help the DSP but he succumbed to a head injury before reaching the hospital, said the Havelian SHO.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2015.