At least 26 people, including women and children, were killed when a jeep carrying members of a wedding party plunged into a stream after a bridge collapsed in the Kandia area of Upper Kohistan on Friday evening.
“All 26 people belonging to the same tribe drowned when a bridge collapsed and the jeep they were travelling in plunged into a stream,” Ahsanul Haq, the chief civil defence warden of Upper Kohistan, told reporters.Only five bodies were recovered.
The jeep was going to Kandia from Bagru when it met with the accident.
According to the area residents, bodies were swept away by the stream and local people had started efforts to recover the bodies.
Mr Haq said that the incident happened because the bridge, which was in a dilapidated condition, could not bear burden of the heavily loaded jeep.
District police chief of Upper Kohistan Raja Abdul Saboor said: “A police party has been sent to area to take part in rescue activities.
“It is a rugged mountainous area with no communication facilities and the people engaged in rescue activities are facing difficulties because of darkness.”
It is learnt that all the passengers belonged to the same family and were going somewhere to attend a function.
Talking to newsmen, DPO Kohistan Raja Abdul Saboor said that the final police report will be announced after investigators probe into the accident.
He said that police and rescue officials were facing difficulties in conducting the relief operation due to darkness and unavailability of resources.
the vehicle plunged into the river after a wooden bridge on the river collapsed. The river is passing through Barigo area of Kandia district in upper Kohistan.
Kohistan Civil Defence Chief Warden Ihsanul Haq said the fateful truck was heading to Komela from Kandia. He said that the bridge could not sustain the load and collapsed when the vehicle was crossing over it.
He said five men jumped out of the pickup truck before it fell into the river.
The officer added that four bodies have been fished out of the river and work is underway to find the rest. Civil Defence teams, police, and locals are taking part in the operation, he added.
He said four women and five children were on board the truck when it fell. All four deceased were residents of the same village and were close relatives, he added.
BODIES RECOVERED IN KOHISTAN
Commissioner Hazara division Syed Zaheerul Islam said on Saturday that at least 20 people were killed as a jeep plunged into a stream in village Barigoga in tehsil Kundian of Upper Kohistan district on Friday night.
Giving details of the accident, the commissioner said a jeep, carrying 25 people, including women, children and men of the same family, was heading towards Kumaila town.
“The family was returning from a marriage ceremony when the jeep they were travelling in fell into a stream,” the commissioner said, and added, “Soon after the incident, locals started rescue and search operation and recovered eight bodies, including of three men, three women and two children while five passengers, who had jumped from the jeep at the time of accident, received injuries.”
He said operation was still in progress to search the missing persons under the supervision of Kohistan Upper Deputy Commissioner Hamidur Rehman.
BODIES RECOVERED IN KOHISTAN
Commissioner Hazara division Syed Zaheerul Islam said on Saturday that at least 20 people were killed as a jeep plunged into a stream in village Barigoga in tehsil Kundian of Upper Kohistan district on Friday night.
Giving details of the accident, the commissioner said a jeep, carrying 25 people, including women, children and men of the same family, was heading towards Kumaila town.
“The family was returning from a marriage ceremony when the jeep they were travelling in fell into a stream,” the commissioner said, and added, “Soon after the incident, locals started rescue and search operation and recovered eight bodies, including of three men, three women and two children while five passengers, who had jumped from the jeep at the time of accident, received injuries.”
He said operation was still in progress to search the missing persons under the supervision of Kohistan Upper Deputy Commissioner Hamidur Rehman.
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