MUZAFFARABAD: Six people were killed today (Saturday) after a family’s vehicle left the interstate and plunged into the Neelum River in Muzaffarabad, according to the officials.
According to details, the group of eight was heading towards the upper belt of the picturesque valley. However, shortly ahead of Jura Bandi village, they met with an accident, said Akhtar Ayub, the district disaster management officer.
Ayub said that the area where the vehicle fell into the river was not in a bad enough condition to have caused such an accident. Quoting eyewitness, he said one of the tyres had burst which led to the driver losing control of the vehicle. He said that the two children were ejected from the car as soon it veered off course.
Ayub said the locals immediately rushed the injured children to a nearby military run health facility in critical condition. However, the others couldn’t survive because of their injuries and the icy water, he added.
Rescuers pulled the vehicle from the river and discovered four bodies. They were identified as Nadir Kamran, his brother Azam Rizwan, wife Madiha Noor and mother Parveen Akhtar. Rizwan’s wife Ayesha and Kamran’s three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Anaya were still missing.
The bodies and injured children were later shifted to Combined Military Hospital Muzaffarabad in the evening. Ayub said a crane had pulled the wreckage of the vehicle from the river shortly before sunset but no more bodies were found.
Expressing grief over the incident, AJK Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider urged tourists to make sure their vehicles were in top condition before embarking on a trip.
