Four drown as bridge collapses in Chitral

CHITRAL: Four persons drowned when a dilapidated bridge on the Mulkhow River in Kosht area collapsed on Monday, local sources said.

They said that prominent social worker and former naib nazim, Kosht, Bulbul Khan Ayubi along with a contractor Fida Hussain were travelling in a van when the bridge collapsed. Bulbul Khan, Fida Hussain, driver and cleaner of the van drowned.

Locals launched search for the victims.The bridge on the Mulkhow River was the only connectivity between Chitral town and Kosht which was washed away by floods in 2015.

The authorities have put in place a steel bridge which was in shambles and rusted. The bridge could not sustain the weight of the van and collapsed. It was the second such accident in the area in the last one month. Earlier, three girl students fell into the river when they were crossing the bridge.The local residents said despite repeated requests the government failed to construct the bridge.

Meanwhile, expressing grief over the bridge collapse tragedy in Chitral, Member National Assembly Shahzada Iftikharuddin said the unfortunate incident could have been averted had the provincial government realised the gravity of the situation and extended help to rebuild the flood-devastated infrastructure. Talking to reporters, the MNA said that the vital bridge was washed away by the devastating flood in 2015, cutting the Mulkhow valley from the rest of the district.

He said a makeshift bridge over the river was built by the Frontier Work Orgnisation, which had also developed cracks. “Four precious live were lost when the bridge collapsed during the repair work,” he said, adding, he had tried his level best to convince the provincial authorities to release funds for the vital projects before the advent of summer but to no avail.