Family sources said Wasif Shahzad, 36, and Umar Ehsan, 20, both cousins from Kot Gakka near Mangowal; Salman Nasrullah Sandhu, 23, of Jassoki village; and Usman Dar, 23, of Saroki had arrived in Gilgit on May 13.
Gilgit range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Raja Mirza Hassan said that according to police records, the four friends had started their travel from Hunza to Skardu on May 15. On the way they had stayed in a hotel near Karakoram at Danyor in Gilgit.
The four friends had resumed their journey to Skardu on May 16 and since then their mobile phones could not be reached.
Skardu Deputy Commissioner Arif Ahmad today confirmed that the location of the missing tourists’ vehicle has been traced near Satak Nala.
The vehicle had fallen into a deep gorge on the bank of the river below the Baltistan Highway after an accident.
Rescue 1122 and other rescue teams had been immediately dispatched to the scene to retrieve the bodies of the victims.The relatives of the deceased youth were also taken to the accident site.
DIG Hassan said the last location of the missing friends was Jaglot town in Gilgit.
The DIG, citing the travellers’ reported plan, said they were supposed to arrive at Skardu’s Istak area. He said their whereabouts could not be traced by search teams till Saturday.
An official of Rescue 1122 told Dawn.com that the car which was travelling to Skardu fell down in a deep ditch around 500 feet below the road.
Local police were busy searching for the missing tourists when this morning a white vehicle was seen down in a deep gorge on the bank of the river below Ganji Padi below the Baltistan Highway.
Istak Station House Officer (SHO) Ali Faro called the rescue team to the scene. A joint team of police and rescue was trying to reach the vehicle, but they were facing a lot of difficulty it.
Rescue team climbing down to retrieve the bodies of the victims. — via Jamil Nagri
“The accident occurred due to high speed, due to which the vehicle went straight into a deep gorge,” the SHO said.
“One body is seen out of the vehicle while three are inside it. Rescue personnel are using ropes to reach the bodies.”
According to a statement issued by Rescue 1122, its Gilgit team launched the search operation soon after they went missing on May 16.
Father of one of the missing person said they lost communication with them on May 16. He had appealed to the GB government, chief secretary and police chief to help trace the missing friends.
The search operation was carried out at various locations from Alam bridge to Shangus area, while Rescue 1122 team searched in Skardu. During the operation, the rescue personnel obtained information about the movement of tourists from police check posts while information was collected from local hotel owners and people of the area.
“The road passes through terrain along with Indus River, where flow of water is dangerously high these days,” DIG Hassan said.
The search was extended in remote and difficult areas with the help of binoculars to scout possible accident sites.
Many incidents happen at Baltistan road due to the difficult terrain, particularly from Gilgit’s Jaglot to Skardu’s Istak area, where vehicles fall into Indus River.
