Accident: One dead, three injured in Diamer

GILGIT:

A car plunged into a river in Gandalo near Diamer district in the wee hours of Thursday, leaving a woman dead, her son, daughter and the vehicle driver injured. Two brothers were also missing till the filing of this report.  According to a police official, the passengers were en route from Islamabad to Gilgit for Eidul Fitr.

While the search for survivors was on, officials said recovery could take more time since the gorge was narrow and very deep.

“It is next to impossible to retrieve the car and the missing people from the river,” Diamer DC Usman Ahmed told The Express Tribune, while visiting the site on Thursday. However, he added the injured have been shifted to the hospital. “We have realised there are flaws in the transport system. We are going to fix them soon,” he said. “Every rent-a-car must have insurance for passengers and drivers if it wants to continue its service,” Ahmed added. He said obtaining a route permit would also become a must for owners of car rental services which are accused of having untrained and rash drivers.

The drowned family was related to Gilgit-Baltistan Minister for Works Dr Muhammad Iqbal. The deceased has been identified as Mubarak Batool while the injured have been identified as 16-year-old Amad and 10-year-old Maha. The vehicle driver Saeed, a resident of Kohistan, was also amongst the injured. The missing brothers were identified as Mahmad and Hasan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2015.